Match of the day

Beauty is often said to be skin deep. But South African sportsmen are finding that it often finds its way to the heart – theirs in particular. Several are dating, engaged or married to models.

The most recent national sportsman to propose is South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers, who has followed several of his sports peers by taking the leap of love and settling down.

De Villiers, the Proteas’ one-day and T20 captain, got engaged to Danielle Swart at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, this week.

On Twitter, he described it as an amazing experience. He is the first for 2012, following a year that was big for Wags (wives and girlfriends) and weddings.

Graeme Smith, the Proteas Test captain, married Irish beauty Morgan Deane in early August. The couple met at the beginning of the year and six months later they were walking down the aisle in Hout Bay.

They are expecting their first child, they announced, in February.

Deane, who is a singer back home, has been known to announce other things on Twitter, too. She called her husband a “stallion” and shared with her followers that Graeme is good in bed.

Last year, after being knocked out of the Cricket World Cup, Smith came under fire from the South African public after choosing to spend time with his love in Ireland and not returning home with the rest of the team.

Until his marriage to Morgan, his most publicised relationship had been with local lass and model Minki van der Westhuizen.

Springbok Schalk Burger married his sweetheart, Michele de Munck, in Wellington last December and she, too, is pregnant. Late in February, Michele, who is also a model, told friends that there was a “mini-Burger” in the oven and is now more than four months pregnant.

The couple had been together for six years before Burger proposed on her birthday in October 2010.

Another 2011 A-list wedding was that of South African cricketer JP Duminy and Sue Erasmus at Val De Vie in Paarl in June. They dated for two years before tying the knot. Erasmus is a former swimsuit model.

In September 2010, Springbok Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira married Kuziva Makure in Durban.

Both are from Zimbabwe. Despite the fact that the marriage was arranged by their mothers, the couple have said they are deeply in love.

Springbok wing Bryan Habana married Janine Viljoen in Centurion in September 2009. The couple had been dating for about five years. Guests were asked to leave their cameras and cellphones outside the venue.

Among the first South African Wags was supermodel, entrepreneur and philanthropist Sonia Bonneventia. She married Ajax Cape Town star Matthew Booth in 2006. He grew up in Fish Hoek and she in Soweto. The couple have two boys.

Other couples, however, have been dating for several years but don’t seem any closer to taking the big leap into marriage.

All-rounder Jacques Kallis has been dating model Shamone Jardim for five years.

Kallis was reported to have written about their meeting on his blog in 2007.

He apparently wrote that it was nice to date a woman who was dating him for who he was, and not someone looking to further her career out of a relationship. At the time, he described her as a very special woman.

Before dating Jardim, Kallis was in a long-term relationship with former Miss South Africa Cindy Nel. After their 2006 break-up, Nel married Clive Roberts in 2009. They had their first child last year.

Often seen with Jardim at cricket matches is fellow Wag Jeanne Kietzmann.

The model and actress has been dating Dale Steyn since 2007. Both Steyn and Kietzmann told journalists that they were too young to get married and were both focused on building their careers.

She is working towards a Bachelor of Costume Design degree.