De Villiers misses ODI against Ireland

AB de Villiers won't play in South Africa's one-dayer against Ireland to give his elbow more time to recover before the Proteas' series against Australia.

AB de Villiers will miss South Africa's one-dayer against Ireland to let his elbow recover. (AAP)

South Africa captain AB de Villiers will skip the one-day international against Ireland to allow more recovery time from an elbow injury before the five-match series against Australia.

His availability for the home series against Australia, which starts next week, would be subject to him passing a fitness test, Cricket South Africa said on Thursday.

De Villiers missed the recent series win over New Zealand due to the injury, which was the first time he has been forced to sit out a Test since his debut in 2004.

"AB has been on a rigorous rehabilitation and treatment plan for the last six weeks but is still complaining of pain in the elbow region," team manager Mohammed Moosajee said in a statement.

"We hope that the extra time will allow the injury to respond to treatment."

Faf du Plessis will captain the team in Sunday's one-off match against Ireland in Benoni, near Johannesburg, and Rilee Rossouw has been added to the squad as batting cover.