The starting side who did duty for the Springboks on Saturday as well as one replacement, have all left the Springboks to return to their respective Clubs in France and Japan.

• Johan Goosen returns to Racing Metro in France
• Bryan Habana returns to Toulon
• JP Pietersen returns to the Panasonic Wild Knights
• On the Springbok bench, Gurthrö Steenkamp returns to Toulouse in France

Of course Bakkies Botha has now retired from International Rugby and accordingly also leaves for Toulon, whilst Morné Steyn (who was not used on Tour) returns to Stade Français.

Schalk Burger joins his Japanes Club, Suntory Sungoliath.

This leads us to the burning question as to the composition and changes in the Springbok run-on team and 23-man squad for Saturday’s encounter with Wales, who held a lead over the All Blacks till the 69th minute, this past Saturday, before conceding a blitz of 3 tries, which blew the score against them out of proportion.

Mind you, one more Springbok tourist is also leaving the squad, thus unavailable for selection, namely Seabelo Senatla, who was released to the Springbok Sevens squad (or Blitzbokke as they are affectionately referred to) for the 2 remaining HSBC Sevens World Series Tournaments in 2014… the tournament in Dubai and the one in South Africa the week thereafter.

So, with 8 Springboks and Springbok tourists suddenly unavailable, here are the burning questions:

1. Who will do duty on both wings on Saturday?
2. Will Willie le Roux be back at fullback or will he be used as a wing on Saturday?
3. Will Nizaam Carr’s fast little debut from the bench be enough to promote him to the starting lineup in place of Oupa Mohoje?
4. Will Jaco Kriel get a bench opportunity?
5. Has Jannie du Plessis recovered sufficiently to do duty at tighthead or will Coenie Oosthuizen and Julian Redelinghuys fullfill that role again after a good weekend’s scrumming for them?
6. Will Tendai “Beast Mtawarira regain his loosehead prop spot or will Trevor Nyakane get another starting run at loosehead against Wales?

Fullback:

Logic suggests that Willie le Roux will just slot back into the fullback fold and that he will not needlessly be used as a wing option on Saturday. He provides so much spark from fullback, as again seen on Saturday when he joined from the bench, that doing anything else seems a bit pointless against a good Wales team.

Willie can be ably backed up at fullback by Lwazi Mvovo (who I would pick at left wing to start) or by Pat Lambie should the unexpected occur.

Wings:

Right wing is not a problem, as Cornal Hendricks would just seemlessly replace JP Pietersen. Hendricks has done most of the right wing duties in 2014 in any case… so no major disturbance there. On the left wing the logical choice is Lwazi Mvovo, who as I have already alluded to, could also easily slip into fullback should the need arise in the game. Lwazi has been in great form in 2014 and it would be just reward to see him cap off the year with a final Test flurry against Wales. Cover for both wings and for both centre positions could easily be Damian de Allende, who has not seen any rugby since August 2014, so one assumes he won’t be used in a starting role, due to ring rust!

Centres:

Heck, only one more game to go, so keep the centre combination of Jean de Villiers and Jan Serfontein in tact. They need to show some centre creativity for a change.. and that would have been my instructions to them if I was Heyneke Meyer. All of Handré Pollard, Pat Lambie and Damian de Allende could do duty at centre, if the need arises…. I’m not saying it is ideal, just saying that gap could easily be plugged.

Flyhalf:

Lambie or Pollard… Pollard or Lambie… quite a question! A week before, Pat Lambie outshone Handré Pollard but prior to that and again this past Saturday, it was the exact opposite, with Pollard easily outshining Pat Lambie.

The nett result is a happy result for the Springboks, who now have 2 flyhalfs who are vying equally hard for a starting spot, a rather nice difficulty to be in if you were coach.

What would I do? I would start with Pat Lambie, he has done nothing wrong to drop him, at the same time I would give Handré Pollard more than a cameo as replacement and play him for at least 25 minutes at the end if not even a little more.

Scrumhalf:

Well, Cobus Reinach, warts and all, seems to have surpassed Francois Hougaard… and after them, well there is not much more, is there! So, Reinach would have to start, and Hougaard would have to bench. Rudy Paige who was called up as extra cover could remain as extra cover, in the stands.

Eightman:

There is only one THOR, and that is THORmeulen! Duane Vermeulen must be allowed to cap of his almost flawless season and year, with another start at No 8. Backup for him is now relatively settled as Nizaam Carr could easily fullfill that role. That does not however mean I would put Nizaam on the bench, my explanation follows in the Flankers discussion.

Flankers:

Ah, my favourite topic, my favourite position! Sometimes this is also my biggest bugbear as coaches irritate the living daylights out of me when they do not realize that there is such a huge, massive, monsterous difference in the applications of blindside and openside flankers. More so, both flankers MUST form a very balanced loose trio with their No 8. The loose trio MUST in my opinion consist of a specialized fetcher at openside who plays towards the ball (who has a massively strong upper body and is quick to the breakdowns), a tackling demon and strike running blindside flank and the strike-running man with hands of gold at No 8. The difference in application, for those who have not seriously played the game in a looseforward position is often unfathomable and they look at you as if asking what the heck you are on about, when you explain these nuances.

Ok, explanation out of the way… rant out of the way!

I see no sense in replacing Marcell Coetzee, who has done wonderfully well for the Springboks in the absense of Francois Louw, so for me No 6 Openside (in SA No 6 is the opensider, elsewhere it is No 7) is done and dusted, but I’d like a caveat on that and that would be to place Jaco Kriel on the bench as specialized openside cover (he could cover any of the 3 looseforward positions in anyway). At blindside I would give the “Bearded Wonder” aka the “Osama man” aka Nizaam Carr a full go as a starter against Wales. He has the physical presence and the finesse to deal with it, I have no doubt. The unlucky fellow to lose out for this match, in my book, would be Teboho “Oupa” Mahoje. There would simply not be enough spaces on the bench to include him, although I think he has done very well this year.

I must concede, I am just itching to see how Jaco Kriel goes, if given a proper chance!

Locks:

Old man mountain, Victor Matfield would have to end 2014 on a high, after he never ever thought he would get as much game time as he actually did in 2014. So, at No 5, it is Victor Victorius. Eben Etzebeth is a given at No 4, just hope he has a similar game as against England, 9 days ago. Lood de Jager would be my bench option, well there is’nt really anybody else, is there, now that Bakkies is a goner!

Props:

I would not play Jannie du Plessis, even if he passes a fitness test. He’s been overplayed in 2014, first by Jake White and then fully into International duty. He needs a longer vacation than most, I recon. So, my Tighthead prop starter would be Julian Redelinghuys, who scrummed well and played well against a strong Azzurri front row. He did not get enough game time though, but he did not embarrass, so I would give him at least 60 minutes on Saturday. It’s not going to happen though, as Coenie Oosthuizen will get the nod at Tighthead prop. In addition I would have Ruan Dreyer on the bench and NOT Coenie Oosthuizen, once again it is wishfull thinking on my side, as Julian would most probably be the bench Tighthead prop if Doc Jannie is indeed rested.

At Loosehead prop, “The Trevor” aka “Pumbaa” or Trevor Nyakane had a good game against the immensely strong hair bear, Martin Castrogiovanni, this past Saturday and I see no reson to change that. Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira has also been overplayed in 2014 and I would have him only on the bench, as injury cover.

Hooker:

I know what is going to happen and that is that Bismarck du Plessis will get a start against Wales as part of the rotation policy, with Adriaan Strauss on the bench. I have no problem with that.

Summation and MY Springbok side for Wales:

15 Willie le Roux
14 Cornal Hendricks
13 Jan Serfontein
12 Jean de Villiers (Captain)
11 Lwazi Mvovo
10 Pat Lambie
9 Cobus Reinach
8 Duane Vermeulen
7 Nizaam Carr
6 Marcell Coetzee
5 Victor Matfield (Vice Captain)
4 Eben Etzebeth
3 Julian Redelinghuys
2 Bismarck du Plessis
1 Trevor Nyakane

Replacements:
16 Adriaan Strauss
17 Tendai Mtawarira
18 Ruan Dreyer
19 Lood de Jager
20 Jaco Kriel
21 Francois Hougaard
22 Handré Pollard
23 Damian de Allende