Briefs 2-Matfield to lead South Africa against Italy

June 16 (Reuters) - Sport news in brief from around the world.

Rugby - Victor Matfield will captain South Africa in the one-off test against Italy in Cape Town on Saturday, coach Peter de Villiers said.

"Victor is a rugby genius," De Villiers said on the South Africa Rugby Web site www.sarugby.net. "He has shown outstanding leadership qualities since joining the squad and he made this decision very easy for me."

Matfield will lead the side in the absence of regular captain John Smit, who is on club duty with Clermont in France. He has also been appointed official vice-captain for the season.

Cricket - A system of player referrals of on-field decisions to the television umpire will be tried out during India's three-test series in Sri Lanka in July-August, the Indian board said in a statement.

Each team can make three referrals per innings, other than "timed out", and successful appeals will not be counted as a chance. The International Cricket Council (ICC) executive board approved the plan in March for increased use of technology.