Peter de Villiers (Gallo)

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Johannesburg - After a year of mixed fortunes, on and off the field, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers faces his biggest test when the British and Irish Lions arrive in South Africa next week.

Unlike the start of his tenure in 2008 when he predicted big things for the South African Super 14 rugby sides, De Villiers has been far more reserved lately in making statements.

He is aware of what a Lions series means to the public and knows overall victory is not negotiable, especially considering what happened to the Boks in 1997 - they lost the series 2-1 - and the fact that he is one of the fortunate few who will get an opportunity to coach a team against the famous visitors.

De Villiers was in a no-win situation last year, taking over a team that had achieved plenty of success in the preceding four years, including winning the 2007 World Cup, under the guidance of Jake White.

South Africa's first black national coach wanted to stamp his mark on the team and the Boks played a different brand of rugby to that under White.

The Boks won nine of 13 Tests last year, but their dismal showing at home in the Tri-Nations left many fans wondering whether De Villiers was the right man for the job.

But by the end of the year, following record-breaking wins against New Zealand in Dunedin, Australia at Ellis Park and England at Twickenham, De Villiers was a hero.

He now enters his toughest challenge yet, three back-to-back Tests against the Lions, who many believe will be coached by the best of the best, wily Scot Ian McGeechan.

Favouring De Villiers is the fact he will be able to call on a large core of the Bok squad which has done duty over the last five years, including John Smit, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Pierre Spies, Fourie du Preez, Jean de Villiers and Bryan Habana.

The hard toil of the Super 14 may work against him, though. Already De Villiers will have to do without first-choice fullback Conrad Jantjes, while there are injury concerns over centres De Villiers, Wynand Olivier and Jaque Fourie and flyhalf Ruan Pienaar.

Veteran fullback Percy Montgomery has retired, while overseas-based stars such as flyhalf Butch James and tighthead prop CJ van der Linde are also injured.

While he may have some concerns of his own, the colourful De Villiers has already tried to unsettle the tourists by questioning a number of their selections.

He stated his surprise at the original non-selection of the captains of Wales (Ryan Jones), England (Steve Borthwick) and Scotland (Mike Blair) and also at the choice Ireland lock Paul O'Connell as captain.

"The one thing that surprised me was that the leaders of three home nations weren't included in the squad - the guys who play under those guys respect them," De Villiers said.

"Those are the guys that can stand up in meetings and try to resolve small niggles and things that can evolve on a long tour like this.

"Brian O'Driscoll was the captain of the last Lions team, even though he got injured, and he was the captain of the most successful Six Nations team this year. That's a second big surprise."

De Villiers will name his Springbok Test squad on June 1 just a few days after a Bok training squad of 23 players faces a Namibian Invitation XV in Windhoek.

"Without the opportunity of a few warm-up games we must ensure that we get the most out of this match, regardless of the fact that some players are not in attendance," said De Villiers.

"After this match we will assemble a Springbok squad that will have three weeks to prepare for the first Lions Test and we have to maximise the time at our disposal."