Meyer to turn to his old guard?; Rugby 365

With the Springboks in crisis mode, will Heyneke Meyer turn to his old stalwarts Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez to lead the side? One of the biggest issues for the Springboks this year has been leadership, with a different captain in each match of their winless Rugby Championship campaign. Although Jean de Villiers was back at the helm against Argentina in Durban, he was not able to inspire his charges to lift themselves in a worryingly flat performance and struggled to manage matters with referee Romain Poite. De Villiers' fractured jaw means that at best he will be back for the Springboks' first match of the World Cup, which raises questions about whether another comeback will be a boost for the team or a distraction in the build-up to the World Cup. The experienced centre has endured his fair share of World Cup heartache in the past, missing out in 2003 and 2007 due to injury, but he and Meyer will have to look beyond the emotions and ask some hard questions about what is best for the team in the next few weeks. With just one match to play before the World Cup Meyer has one more chance to assess his options, but with five defeats from their last seven games he is also in desperate need of a win in Buenos Aires to give them at least some momentum before they leave for England next month. This means that if they are passed fit this week, Meyer is likely to turn to Matfield and Du Preez, who were his two on-field generals for so long at the Bulls. Matfield has only played 17 minutes of Test rugby this year, having hobbled off against the Wallabies in Brisbane, while Du Preez has hardly played any rugby at all this year. If they do not play at all before the World Cup it would be hard to justify their selection, especially given the widespread concern about relying on players of their age. Beyond De Villiers, Matfield and Du Preez the most obvious candidates for the Springbok captaincy are Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen and Bismarck du Plessis who have one Test as captain between them. There will be changes to the team this week, with Willem Alberts set to feature at blindside flank in place of the injured Marcell Coetzee and Pat Lambie likely to slot in at fullback with Willie le Roux also sidelined. However, the key changes will be the leadership of the team which is something that has been seriously lacking in the last few weeks, and Meyer will surely turn to his old guard to pull the team together and give them some much-needed impetus heading into the World Cup. By Michael de Vries, in Durban

 Old boys back to bail out Boks, truth of fiction?  

 
Oh what a shock!!!!

Didn't see that coming!!

 I saw it coming if Jean was out. Look no further than Burger.  Man are we cursed or what. Injuries just keep messing things up. Bent refs rob of us tests. 

 The shock will be traumatic - a load of utter BS.  Matfield was under-performing in his tests over the past year and Fourie du Preez and Willem Alberts needs fat removal operations.   Those three to be included is a joke of massive proportions - the Argentinians must lick their lips at that weird prospects.
All three will limp off before halftime - two because their legs will not be able to carry them because of fat obstruction - the other because of the absence of real muscles in his legs.
All three will be serious cases of match unfitness.  

 Is Meyer being led into a trap. Cheat boks out of two dow under tests and get him to revert to old guns and in one case a pop gun.Things are going badly on the in jury front. Guys we need get injured and hapless oaks like wee victor 105 kg and 38 years old get better!

Yes, perhaps it is best to go back to the future again, deja vu & all that. Or are this string of loses a cunning ploy by Meyer, the rope a dope of rugby? Boks have been resting their golden oldies, and even digging up a few so it could all be a clever caper

Meyer is so stupid that he will bring the likes of useless Matfield back, we will sneak past the Argies thanks to us smarting after being at the lowest of the low.....and good old Meyer will them think all is well with Vic and co back on board.
That's how useless Meyer is 

Lowest of the low? How arrogant are you? Argentina are a quality team that have been pushing their RC opponents very hard. To say that they should never win is disgracefully arrogant. The only "easy" Puma test of the past 17 years was the 2008 game where they were not allowed to play some European players and it was their first game under the ELVs. They lead through it the first half, and kept the Boks so bound that we could barely inflict a dent. In the second half their fitness levels showed and they fell away completely. Some perspective is in order. We aren't playing rugby in the 50s anymore. 

 Wake up dumb ass.....lowest of the low is the pathetic record under your useless insult of a coach who now has won only 4 of the last 12 tests against the major nations and has lead us to our lowest ranking ever.
What is beyond comprehension is your undying support for such a loser....making you more of an idiot than you already are. 
You must feel like a right prick backing such a hopeless loser
Meyer is the worst coach we have had since readmission....he has won NOTHING....he is both a disgrace and an insult to Bok rugby