Meyer needs to ditch 5

The five being Fourie, Morne, Pienaar, Steenkamp and Bakkies. 

Bakkies and Steenkamp stand in the way of development and progression. At best they have been solid, we dont need solid from two old men when we have youngsters ready and waiting. We need to find progressive back-ups to our incumbents not a bunch of old farts who are not going to get better with age. If these players were coming on and making a difference then fair enough, but they are not. One cant help but think that a player like Kitshoff coming on would make much more of an impact than Steenkamp has in the last two years - its a no brainer.

They are standing in the way of the likes of Kitshoff, Nkanyane, Marcel v/d Merwe, Paul Willemse and Lood de Jager.

Fourie at 13 has been a complete flop, his stats with ball in hand over 3 tests have been nothing short of pathetic. All he offers is a defensive role. JJ showed in his last test against the AB's exactly what we require from a test 13 with ball in hand. The Fourie experiment has flopped, we need to get back to a player who has some real zip with ball in hand.

Morne has stifled Bok rugby progression for years and his poor tour over is a reminder of just how average this guy is. Move on and invest in Lambie and Goosen.......proper investment, not a test here and there.

Pienaar has been poor all year and more than anything lacks the hard edge. We need a 9 that fronts up at the base. du Preez has enough value to be retained but we need to see investment in the likes of Hougaard, v/Zyl and Reinach moving forward - not Pienaar.

We need to follow the Kiwi model.......a core supplemented by youngsters........its so easy really:

Fullback: Willie / Taute / Frans

Wings: Habana / JP / Willie

Centres: Jean / JJ / Serfontein / Frans / de Allende / Taute

Flyhalves: Goosen / Lambie / Jantjies

Scrumhalves: du Preez / Hougaard / v/Zyl / Reinach

Props: Beast / Jannie / Coenie / Malherbe / Kitshoff / Nkanyane / Marcel v/d Merwe

Hookers: Bismark / Strauss / Chiliboy

Locks: Etzebeth / Steph du Toit / Flip / Willemse / de Jager

Loosies: Kolisi / Alberts / Louw / Vermeulen / Botha / Brussouw / Coetzee / CJ Stander / Elstadt / Labascagne

Saffex

I fully agree with you about the 5 players mentioned - even though I myself think that Alberts is also one to go, because of his  one-dimensional game and real deficiencies as an all-round loosie.  Alberts is a real phenomenon - after every match the accolades are ear splitting - but w hen you really analyse the games and see what he does in games - you find a very much different situation as his being shouted about.  He is given out as a mighty ball carrier - yet the limited number of carries and meters gained is in evidence.  He is given out to be a strong tackler - yet he misses more tackles than all other loosies in relevant games - and the missed tackles are often enough crucial ones like the Read miss at Ellis Park.

I think that the best way to go is to assess how the players develop and perform during the Super 15 series next year and then look at who really perform well insofar as potential vacancies are concerned.  It is easy to give a list now - but that list may be deficient with top performers next year missing from it or real problem cases being on the list.

From my perspective I think it would be wise to look at prospective candidates in the key positions listed above during Super 15 next year and come up with names  during the Series.