A barrage of news and speculation greets us early on a Monday morning after a power game against Wales by the Springboks, this past weekend.

Firstly, the match analysis… reports indicating that Team Management and leaders in the side are lauding Fourie du Preez for his Man Of The Match performance against Wales.

Secondly, it appears that the injury to Bok flyhalf Morné Steyn, who had to leave the field after only 18 minutes in the game is not serious, with a troublesome back spasm picked up in the pre-game warm-up blamed and the player taken off to prevent real injury.

Thirdly, with 1 win under the belt and 2 games remaining, the next one being against Scotland on Sunday, speculation is rife whether Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer will rest some weary players and pick a hand full of other players, to test new combinations against what should be South Africa’s weakest opposition on tour.

We will discuss the above under seperate headings below:

Fourie du Preez lauded:

SuperSport reports that it hasn’t taken long for the decision to bring back Japan-based club players to be vindicated, with both Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer and skipper Jean de Villiers heaping praise on the role played by man of the match Fourie du Preez and centre Jaque Fourie in Saturday’s 24-15 win over Wales in Cardiff.

The duo silenced the noisy Millennium Stadium crowd by combining to produce the try that effectively killed off the Welsh hopes with a quarter of an hour to go, but both players contributed more than just the moment of brilliance that led to Du Preez scoring beneath the posts.

Du Preez’s tactical kicking in particular was regarded as the ultimate difference between two sides that were separated by the fact that one had a blend between physicality and clinical efficiency and the other didn’t. Even though the Boks shaded the collisions, Welsh captain Sam Warburton felt his men had fronted their opponents physically afterwards.

“We had problems with their mauling but other than I felt we were comfortable and we felt we were in the game. We are disappointed we lost obviously, but I have felt more disappointed after other performances in the past,” said Warburton.

Where the difference came in though was that the Welsh threw all their effort into producing what was needed physically, but weren’t accurate enough in controlling the ball, with their play being blighted by mistakes.

Not for the first time in matches between these sides at this venue, Welsh fire and passion did not prove sufficient against a side that was just more controlled and more comfortable with the pace of the game.

“I thought that what we did was make full use of our chances much better than they did and that was a step forward from the Rugby Championship,” said Bok hooker Bismarck du Plessis afterwards.

Du Plessis added that three tries to nil was an accurate reflection of the Bok superiority on the day, and there isn’t much cause to argue with that contention for the Boks. Although held to just a two point advantage with 15 minutes to go, the Boks were that much better.

“Three tries to nil against a side that is as good as Wales is and on their home field was a great performance,” said Meyer.

SUBDUE AND PENETRATE

Although the yellow carding of Francois Louw and the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, who kicked five penalties, kept the home team in the game, it was effectively the Boks’ storming opening quarter, where they led 17-6, that ensured their dominance over the Welsh will be extended by at least another year.

“The important thing for us in this match was to start well and we did that by scoring those two tries in the first 20 minutes,” said skipper De Villiers.

“We played strong, powerful rugby in that period, and although they did come back later on, I never really felt stressed and felt we had the game in hand.”

The Boks led for the rest of the match once the captain himself had gone over for the first try to overturn what after 12 minutes had been a 6-3 lead to Wales after two Leigh Halfpenny penalties had cancelled out one from Morne Steyn.

Before that there had been some iffy moments from the Boks and some good ones from Wales, with centre Fourie’s return to the Bok jersey not being completely without blemish as some defensive inaccuracy in the midfield led to Welsh midfield star Jonathan Davies enjoying some early sniping runs that had the Bok defence scrambling.

“We did make some mistakes early on but the impressive thing was that we were able to correct them later,” said Meyer.

Indeed, with Fourie playing a prominent role as organiser, the defence turned out to be one of the pillars in the Bok win, with Wales making more linebreaks in the game overall than the Boks but never really threatening to score.

That was because the Boks defenders had their measure physically, with Wales coach Warren Gatland conceding afterwards that it often felt like “we would take one step forward and then two steps back”.

Whereas when the Boks did carry the ball their players invariably made metres, the Welsh players were invariably propelled backwards, and that and the Welsh inability under pressure to hold onto the ball under the pressure was the essential difference between the teams.

“There were areas where we are normally strong where we were outplayed tonight, and one of those was the aerial game,” said Gatland.

And that is where kudos should be directed at Du Preez in particular, who controlled the game with his boot and ensured that the Welsh were constantly scrambling in their own half.

It was very much the old style Bok tactic of subdue and penetrate, but the fact that the Boks won playing a tactical game only increased the smiles creasing the faces of Meyer and De Villiers afterwards.

“You cannot just play one kind of game and what was demanded today was very different to what is demanded in the Rugby Championship. I am glad we could produce what was required and I am very glad we got the win because I was a bit worried about this game,” said the Bok coach.

“I thought Fourie was brilliant, and the way he and Jaque combined for that third try probably won us the game. I took a lot of criticism for bringing those guys back, but I am glad I did because they were perhaps the difference today. That play that led to the try cannot be coached, it was just brilliant.”

De Villiers lauded Du Preez’s excellent decision-making and ability to dictate play.

“When it comes to decision-making, he’s probably one of the best in world rugby,” said De Villiers. “He makes the right calls more times than not, and he was crucial in the victory. It’s good to see the older guys putting up their hands and performing. It’s great to have him in the side.”

Morné Steyn injury:

During and after the Springbok match I was worried about the extent of the injury to Morné Steyn who had to leave the field in the 18th minute already. My worries were of course compounded by the weak showing of Patrick Lambie at flyhalf in the remaining 62 minutes… and the clear gap between the Springboks’ preferred pivot and his deputies on tour.

Lambie played well at fullback initially, but his play at flyhalf is what is worrying. One would think that after having played the whole of Super Rugby for the Sharks at flyhalf and having recently played well at flyhalf for The Sharks in the Currie Cup… and even though Lambie was mostly a bench-sitter in The Rugby Championship, that all excuses not to step up to international standard would be out the window and that a talent like Lambie would be able to seemlessly slot into the position he prefers (and the position he is widely touted for).

This was clearly not the case, with Lambie missing tackles in his flyhalf channell, getting isolated in taking the ball up on attack and getting the ball turned over, being tactically naiive, kicking 2 woeful cross-kicks which put the Springboks under severe pressure and both almost leading to turn-over scores by Wales, fumbling the ball when falling back on defence and almost gifting George North a try near the end, attempting 2 terribly executed drop attempts and missing a vital shot at goal from a penalty.

Personally, I am beyond the point where I accept excuses for Pat Lambie’s play or where I say he should be given another chance for the Springboks at pivot and I think a big chunk of the South African public is starting to feel exactly the same, whereas it appears that the biggest support for continuing with the young man, only hails from his die-hard supporters who wear the black and white on weekends.

On the other hand I am of the opinion that Johan Goosen who is on tour with the Springboks has not had enough game time coming back after injury, so considering the injury to Morné, the cupboard is prettly bare at flyhalf on tour. The cupboard should not be bare though, because there is still the talent of Demetri Catrakilis and Marnitz Boshoff left out of the tour, back in South Africa… one of the first things I would have done was to give Demetri Catrakilis a call and buy him a plane ticket for the UK on Sunday morning.

Why is it that perrennial bench-riders like Beauden Barrett of New Zealand or Aaron Cruden, also of New Zealand, slot in so easily in the All Blacks side, making the transision seemlessly… and even to the extent that they enhance play on the field when eventually they do come on, whereas the South African excuse is used for Lambie that he got rusty having sat on the international bench so long and that he was only mentally prepared for fullback play on the weekend (even though he is a self-professed flyhalf).  Are we really stupid enough in South Africa to believe such utter crap?

Enough bitching and incessant moaning from me, needlees to say it bothers and greatly pains me to see this, which naturally opens the heart to express it… as we would say in Afrikaans “Wat die hart van vol is, loop die mond van oor!” (What the heart is full of, the mouth professes)

According to rugby365, First-choice Springbok flyhalf Morné Steyn could miss next weekend’s Test against Scotland due to a back spasm injury.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer revealed the flyhalf actually suffered the spasm prior to kick-off and played through the pain until he could no longer run.

“I was worried about him. Just after the warm-up his back went into spasm. We thought it would release but he couldn’t run at all and we don’t want to risk any injury going forward,” Meyer said.

Meyer was hopeful Steyn would recover in time for Sunday’s Test at Murrayfield but said they’d only know more on the severity of Steyn’s condition following tests on Monday.

“It’s not a big injury and the fact that we brought him off quite early helped. This is a seven-day turnaround so we have a bit more time but the great thing is we’re starting to build depth now.”

The Springbok coach admitted losing Steyn was a major blow but praised Pat Lambie, who moved to flyhalf after starting in the No.15 jersey, and Willie le Roux, who filled the void at fullback.

“It was a big setback early in the game,” said Meyer. “I wanted to see Pat at fullback and then he came in at 10, but I think Willie did brilliantly. He was under pressure from the previous game. Defensively he was great, he’s worked really hard on his kicking game and contesting in the air. “This is a total different game. This isn’t Championship rugby. You can’t play from scrums, you don’t get any quick ball and our tactical kicking was much better so that was probably the difference on the day.”

Meyer said he had planned to give Lambie an opportunity at flyhalf at a later stage of the end-of-tour but said his performance at the Millennium Stadium highlighted the depth in the squad.

“I definitely wanted to give him a run at 10 as well and now he’s played a whole game there and he did well. With him suddenly at 10 and JP [Pietersen] and Mossie [Jaque Fourie] coming in there was suddenly a lot of mix in the backline. They cut us once or twice in the beginning but the guys readjusted well and it showed the experience,” he said. “It’s great to have Pat there. You need at least 35 great players and two great 10s and I thought he did well. We’re in a great position at this stage, [having] two great flyhalves, and hopefully Johan Goosen can also push hard for the team in the next year or two.”

This week’s selections for Scotland:

Rob Howing, chief sports writer for Sport24 feels like this:

While having to guard against riling the passionate Scots by naming too much of a “second string” for Murrayfield next Sunday, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer should also not be dissuaded from any temptation to experiment in the longer-term interest.

With due respect for the possibility of slipping on the proverbial banana peel – this writer witnessed it happen to South Africa in a miserably frigid Edinburgh in 2010 – this always looked the least demanding of the Boks’ three European tour fixtures on paper, and to some extent they must plan accordingly.

Frankly, the second best team in the world at present should expect to be able to douse the Scots’ fire while resting a handful of senior personnel for the tricky demand of a mere six-day turnaround to the finale of the itinerary in France.

Some Bok stalwarts will be close to running on empty at the end of another arduous season, especially after the defensive demands on the team in Saturday’s successful opener against Wales on a wretched Millennium Stadium surface.

It really does seem to make sense for Meyer, as he has already hinted he will, to alter his starting brew to a fair degree: he is well capable of putting out a team that still lacks little in experience and credibility, while also serving the purpose of giving some relative rookies the rare responsibility of stepping up in a starting capacity after mostly featuring as substitutes at this stage of their Bok careers.

Names falling into that category include centre Jan Serfontein, flank Siya Kolisi and versatile front-ranker Coenie Oosthuizen – it would be seriously enlightening to see them given the lion’s share of a game rather than mere cameos.

Should Meyer wish to persevere with the raw Frans Malherbe at tighthead, after his perfectly acceptable debut against Wales, I would advocate Oosthuizen getting a crack in his still more familiar loosehead role, where dynamic ball-carrying (something the hefty Cheetahs man revels in) becomes a likelier feature.

Although that game all of six years ago now was more of a white-knuckle ride than many Springbok fans would have wished, there is a case for saying South Africa can afford to emulate the strategy employed by Jake White in the World Cup 2007 pool game against Tonga – keep the established senior “cavalry” close at hand via the bench, for the sake of preserving their freshness for challenges just a little further ahead, but still be in a position to summon them to the fray in the event of difficulty.

It worked in Lens then (nobody needs reminding who went on to win the tournament, either) as a few collywobbles among an experimental starting Bok line-up simply led to juggernauts like John Smit, Victor Matfield, Juan Smith, Bryan Habana and Percy Montgomery turning “supersubs” to rumble into action en masse and finally subdue the spirited Pacific Islanders.

Would it really be too high-risk to start the Scotland match with a significantly changed Bok XV – one that wouldn’t even look particularly callow, note – and have the comfort of knowing such hard-working 2013 icons as Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira, Duane Vermeulen and Eben Etzebeth can be cotton-woolled yet infused in a second-half “emergency” if need be?

Using them in Edinburgh as reserves, a rare event, would probably only enhance, at this point in the rugby year, the likelihood of freshness and eagerness on their part for the task in Paris.

Captain and veteran, consistently impressive midfielder De Villiers is crying out – not literally, for he is famously uncomplaining — more than others for a break of sorts and the Boks would not massively be disadvantaged by the up-and-coming Serfontein starting at No 12, and perhaps with that admirable squad man Adriaan Strauss beginning at hooker for Du Plessis and also serving as skipper on the day.

Similarly, if there is any thought to a starting debut at No 5 lock for Pieter-Steph du Toit this weekend, why not pair him with that gnarly old scrapper Bakkies Botha, he of 76 Test caps and a great deal of recent experience of playing in European conditions for Toulon?

Just how Meyer constructs his run-on XV could depend to a strong degree, of course, on the traditional Monday medical update: just for instance, clarity is sought on Morne Steyn’s back spasms and whether he is deemed a realistic candidate for Murrayfield as a result.

If there is any risk, why not simply stick with Pat Lambie in the flyhalf channel after he ended up switching there for around an hour of the Wales game from fullback anyway?

Meyer may well prove not nearly so cavalier, if that is the right word, when he names his line-up but I would suggest this sort of Bok XV, coupled with the security of an unusually star-studded bench, is well capable of both winning at Murrayfield and providing some educative future pointers:

15 Willie le Roux/Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pat Lambie/Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.