Peter de Villiers appeared to be a dead man walking after South Africa's World Cup exit at the hands of Australia © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Peter De Villiers

Tournaments/Tours: Rugby Championship

Teams: Argentina | Australia | England | New Zealand | South Africa

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has confirmed that Peter de Villiers is in with a chance of holding on to his job as Springboks head coach.

De Villiers' existing deal with the SARU expires at the end of the year and it was widely expected that he would not be offered an extension on account of the Boks' disappointing exit at the quarter-final stages of the Rugby World Cup.

However, the outspoken 54-year-old stated earlier this month that he intended to seek reappointment and the SARU's Executive Council (Exco) confirmed on Thursday that De Villiers' name will feature on a shortlist of preferred candidates for the position. Exco intends to interview all applicants before making a decision on the top job in South African rugby "early in the New Year".

"This is the most important decision we have to make as SARU and appointing the best man for the job is critical," chief executive officer Jurie Roux said. "The skills and qualities required by a Springbok coach are confined to only a small number of potential candidates.

"Once a shortlist of those available candidates has been identified, the Exco has the freedom to call on outside expertise for final selection. The appointment will then go for ratification by the General Council."

Meanwhile, Exco has also confirmed the venues for the Springboks' home games in 2012, with their three June Tests against England to take place at Kings Park in Durban, Ellis Park in Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

Meanwhile, the first Rugby Championship clash on South African soil will see the Boks tackle Argentina at Newlands in Cape Town on August 18. That historic encounter will be followed by a meeting with Australia at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on September 29 before the Springboks return to the FNB Stadium in Soweto for a mouth-watering match-up with world champions New Zealand the following weekend.