Vilas received the best newcomers award by Graeme Smith in 2009 when the Proteas hosted their annual award ceremony. The wicket-keeper batsman since then has had an up and down career. After playing four seasons for the Lions, he went down the pecking order with the emergence of Thami Tsolekile and Quinton de Kock. During his time with the Lions, Vilas got an opportunity to represent South Africa in a one-off T20I against India in March 2012. However, he didn't get to bat. Vilas, then moved to Cape Cobras where he was granted a regular place in the side. The move paid dividends as he scored runs and was picked in the South African squad that toured Bangladesh in July 2015. He made his debut in the second Test as he replaced de Kock. But, again things didn't go his way. The match was washed out and Vilas didn't get a chance to bat. A second chance followed when he was selected as South Africa's first-choice wicket-keeper for the tour of India in 2015. On admittedly dicey batting wickets, Vilas managed to post just 60 runs from seven innings before losing his spot to Quinton de Kock. He played just one more Test since the diabolical India tour - against England in Johannesburg, but the emergence of de Kock had literally ended his South Africa career. With chances of an international call-up limited, Vilas was one amongst several South African players who ended their international career in exchange for a lucrative Kolpak deal in England, signing up with Lancashire.