South African rugby boss Brian van Rooyen announced the first national squad under coach Jake White - with six black players included in the side to play Ireland and Wales next month.
"I'm very satisfied with the team that has been selected and that they were selected on the basis of their ability to play for the Springbok team," Van Rooyen told reporters at a press conference.
"We have seen a lot of players of colour that have played excellent rugby this year," Van Rooyen said, adding that the first outcome of the selection set in place "served the best interests of rugby in South Africa".
Van Rooyen announced major changes to the game in February, including the grooming of black coaches and setting targets to get more black players into the team.
"There is this notion that if a team is selected, people will say very quickly 'yes we have to transform the game, but we also have to win'," Van Rooyen said at the time.
White said he wanted to send a message that it was not easy to become a Springbok player. "It is important that the message goes out that we don't want to dish out Springbok colours. We want to make it difficult for a boy to become a Springbok," he said.
White took over as national coach after Rudolf Straeuli resigned in
December, dogged by a dismal World Cup performance in Australia, a military-style boot camp to train the Springboks before the event and allegations of racism within the national ranks.
Straeuli came under fire for choosing only one non-white player, winger Ashwin Willemse, for South Africa's World Cup quarter-final 29-9 thrashing by New Zealand.
Apart from Willemse, the other players of colour in the team were Eddie Andrews, Bolla Conradie, Quinton Davids, Wayne Julies and Hanyani Shimange.
Another surprise was the inclusion of mercurial fullback Percy Montgomery, who has broken his hand in a club game for Welsh outfit Newport Gwent Dragons on Friday night.
"He (Montgomery) has fractured a small bone in his hand -- that sort of injury can heal within two weeks. This means that he should be available but we have done a contingency plan with Gaffie du Toit," White said.
He added that no positions have been fixed yet for the 22-member squad to play Ireland in Bloemfontein on June 12.
The team:
Eddie Andrews (Western Province); De Wet Barry (Western Province); Bakkies Botha (Blue Bulls); Schalk Burger (Western Province); Bolla Conradie (Western Province); Quinton Davids (Western Province); Fourie du Preez (Blue Bulls); Os du Randt (Free State); Jaque Fourie (Lions), Marius Joubert (Western Province); Wayne Julies (Free State); Victor Matfield (Blue Bulls); Percy Montgomery (Newport); Faan Rautenbach (Lions); Brent Russel (Sharks); Hanyani Shimange (Free State); John Smit (Sharks); Juan Smith (Free State); Jaco van der Westhuizen (Leicester); Joe van Niekerk (Western Province); Pedrie Wannenburg (Blue Bulls); Ashwin Willemse (Lions).