The euphoria about a win over the Wallabies on Saturday - which seems unlikely by minute 67 on Saturday - makes us forget about some team defoicoencies inevidence during the game.
Those deficiencies include the following:-
* De Villiers made some crucial mistakes in the game - mistakes like handling errors and losing of ball possession as is evidenced by the following, but his defense waas better than the case of the Wellington test:-
* Pietersen was ineffective and the only notable instance inhis play was giving away a crucial penalty.
* Hougaard's passing game was questionable - at least two wild passes to nobodyy and a few inaccurate passes that were too low or in one case behind th back of Pollard.
* Mohoje was ineffective as a loosie and was nt really a facor in the game - zero ball protection and recovery. Burger was much better than Mohoj when he came on and he had in fact a very good game.
* There is still a serious problem in the Tight 5. The scrumming was at best average and even though the line out work was adequate the Springboks still lost a crucial line out throw in.
* The injury to Vermeulen which could entail a major loss of one of our best players in the game against the AB's.
The questionremains - can th Springboks beat the AB's who plays a fast-moving game? The answer is that there are going to be problems in the relevant regard and whether Meyer would attend to those.
Meyer is unlikely to change the backline selection. Matter of fact it would be wrong to change Pollard - who urgently needs further experience and had to cointent with a questionable service from Hougaard. The latter played reasonably well in most cases - but he remains deficient in some respects. I would play Hougaard for 40 to50 minutes and replace him with Reinach early - not at minute 77 like happened on Saturday. For the rest Pietersen was near to a dead loss on Saturday - he really made no impression - his main problem is his speed deficiency - but I suppose if Habana is fit - he would eb retained on the bench.
The main problem remains with out Tight 5 and essentially the scrumming. Jannie is a problem case that refuses to go away. Matfield plays well in looser formats - but is ineffective in Tight 5 play - while Botha produced zero when he came on on Saturday. We still lack superiority in the Tight 5 compared to last year and that can be due to decline in th performances of Jannie du Plessis and the deficiency in the performances of Matfield. However, despite the deficiencies mentioned Meyer is unlikely to make substantial changes and the Tight 5 situation will remain deficient.
If Vermeulen is not available - there will be a further problem in ball protection and recovery - two of Vermeulen strongest points. He and Coetzee was exceptional in th recent test in Wellington and that combination was crucialto the performances of the Springboks. What Meyer is going to do with the loosie combination is a problem. With the remainder of the players in the squad and the mobility of the AB loosies - his choices are limited. I think serious consideration should be given to Play Whiteley at 8 - where he plays for the Lions and replace Mohoje in the no 7 position with Burger - leaving Mohoje on the bench. In the alternative a replacement should eb called up - but the question remains who.
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