Former Springbok captain Morne du Plessishas quit as South African Rugby board director, South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU). Du Plessis, a widely-respected official who was manager of theteam that won the 1995 World Cup, resigned amid attempts to revamp SouthAfrica's entire rugby structure.

A number of top officials have quit the game following adisastrous performance in last year's World Cup. State broadcaster SABC reported that sweeping changes in had beenapproved at a recent board meeting, but did not give any details.

SARFU said on their website: "Mr du Plessis has indicated ina letter to the chairman of the board, Dr Theunie Lategan, that he could notguarantee what his level of contribution would be in future following the

suggested changes at the bosberaad (meeting) and therefore felt it appropriatefor him to stand down."

Du Plessis' departure follows a series of resignations after theSpringboks were ousted from the World Cup in a humiliating quarter-final matchwhen they lost 29-9 against New Zealand. Skipper Corne Krige, coach Rudolf Straeuli, SA Rugby managingdirector Rian Oberholzer and SARFU president Silas Nkanunu have since quit.

SA Rugby was hit by another scandal in January when financialauditors found that one million rand (143,000 dollars) had been stolen fromits coffers. Two staff members were subsequently been suspended.