My Bok side for June

Regardless of what Meyer will come up with, my match 22 would be along the lines of:

Fullback - with Taute injured, the options are Frans, Willie le Roux and Lambie. But with Goosen out, Lambie needs to stick to 10. My choice would be Frans even though I prefer him at 12. The back-up would be le Roux.

Wings: JP is an obvious choice and I suspect Habana is. Rhule and v/d Heever have been the best of the youngsters and would be my back-ups.

Outside centre: JJ Engelbrecht has been the best of our outside centres in the S15. de Jongh will never be physical enough for the role. Our other options are moving inside centres Jan Serfontein or de Allende to 13.

Inside centre: Here we have the experience of Jean as a solid option. Frans always features for me at 12 and should be fully match fit by June. de Allende has looked good at 12 for the Stormers and many are pro Ebersohn. For the same reason I exlude de Jongh, Ebersohn would not make my side. One simply cannot ignore the talents of Jan Serfontein. He is my choice at 12, to provide the clout we need in our Bok backline.

Flyhalf: With Goosen out, the obvious choice is Lambie, but he does need to rediscover that attacking flair. Jantjies has not done enough to merit consideration. Catrakillis has looked solid. Lambie walks it.

Scrumhalf: Hougaard is always my go to man. He should start for the Bulls shortly and hopefully we will see his attacking play come to the fore. Reinach has been very good for the Sharks and Groom has shown some good touches for the Stormers. Pienaar has been solid enough in Ireland, but we need to move on from solid. Hougaard is my first choice with Reinach as back-up. 

Loosehead: Beast is hanging in there, but needs to step it up as Kitshoff and Nkanyane are breathing down his neck. Beast to start with Kitshoff as back-up, or Nkanyane for that matter.

Hooker: Strauss has been in scintillating form and while Bismark is the best hooker in the game, it would be difficult leaving out Strauss, the second best hooker in the game. Chiliboy looked back to his best last week and Cooper has been a find for the Sharks. As hard as it is to leave Strauss out, we need Bismarks grunt for the Boks. Strauss on the bench.

Tighthead: Jannie has been way off the pace and its time for a change. The change is possible given the encouraging performances of Coenie and Malherbe at 3. We need Coenie in the Bok side, he is a rare talent. Malherbe as back-up.

Locks: Etzebeth walks it at 4. Flip has been in good form and de Jager has been a find for the Cheetahs. With Bekker unavailable, Steph du Toit is the obvious choice at 5.

Openside: Kolisi has been our form 6, with Brussouw and Wimpie v/d Walt pushing. I dont see Louw as a fetcher, he would challenge for 7. Its a tough call between the experience of Brussouw, a true fetcher and new boy Kolisi. I'm going with Kolisi.

Blindside: We have a number of options here. Elstadt has impressed me with the grunt he brings to the role, much in the Alberts mould. The other options at 7, are better ball players but lack the grunt required at 7 and look better suited to 8. These include Cotzee, Arno Botha and Labascagne. My choice is the grunt of Elstadt ahead of the older Alberts.

Eigthman: Vermeulen has been the standout and v/d Walt has been very good for the Cheetahs. Engelbrecht has been huge for the Kings, but struggles to find a starting spot with them. I'd be tempted to play one of Coetzee or Arno Botha at 8, as they provide better all round skills than the likes of Vermeulen, but for now, I'm going with the grunt of Vermeulen.

My Bok side:

15. Frans 14. JP 13. JJ 12. Serfontein 11. Habana 10. Lambie 9. Hougaard 1. Beast 2. Bismark 3. Coenie 4. Etzebeth  5. Steph du Toit 6. Kolisi 7. Elstadt 8. Vermeulen 16. Reinach 17. Jean 18. Rhule 19. Malherbe 20. Strauss 21. de Jager 22. Coetzee

Saffex

Really good explanations - unlike Meyer's insistence on his dunce choices - you provide motivation for your approach.  

I really differ from you in some respects - but agree in most cases.   However, there is no point in argueing about the issue - since Meyer will select the under-performing as a matter of routine on his part and to argue between us on the issue of something that will never happen is pointless.   We can all dream about things - but the dreams will not get us anywhere.

Frans, JP, Serfontein, De Villiers, Habana, Lambie, Pienaar.

Malherbe, Strauss, Beast, Alberts, Etzebeth, Becker, Louw, Vermeulen.

If Bekker can't play..... du Toit....although I would rather have him come off the bench for a few years(s)

Bekker is out of the equation by all accounts. I would have started with Bekker and had Steph du Toit off the bench, but we dont have that choice. Steph du Toit into the deep end.

At least its only Italy, Scotland and Samoa in June

 I honestly don't think there is going to be much variation from Meyers squad to yours Saffex. With the exception of Elstadt, JJ and De Jager. He will also most probably swap Jean and Jan or have Jean at 13 with Jan or Ebersohn at 12. He will have Alberts at 7 with Kolisi being benched by Louw. He may even include Brussouw in the next training camp!

My guess is that Meyer will have the following side:

15. Kirchner 14. JP 13. Jean 12. Frans 11. Habana 10. Morne 9. Pienaar 1. Beast 2. Bismark 3. Jannie 4. Etzebeth 5. Kruger 6. Louw 7. Alberts 8. Spies 16. Hougaard 17. Lambie 18. de Jongh 19. Coenie 20. Strauss 21. Steph du Toit  22. Coetzee 

 I think Meyer will use the June tests to try new things. Optimistic bunch aren't you!

Meyer is a conservative coach, he is not about trying something new. He knows he fell short last year and will want to put that right. The way he thinks that will happen is by persisting with his selections of last year and by following the same out dated game plan.

The pressure is going to mount on on the man and by end of the RC it will be make or break for him. He will be forced to change his was or face the axe.

Frankly Dave, after all the publicity about Frans at 12 for the Sharks.....it would take a brave coach to select him there. Jean is money at 12 and not as good at 13, I can't see anybody but Jean at 12. You may be right about the fullback slot though....Meyer likes Kirchner's high ball skills. Personally I think his pathertic tackling is a knock out factor.

Jannie may still be preferred at tighthead,  but he is not scrumming well. I also hope we don't go the Spies route.....he has had so many chances, and so rarely comes to play. Kruger may start ahead of Du Toit initially, but by the second half of the RC that should change.

I believe we need a blend of new talent and experience.

Well hopefully Meyer has enough savy to judge Frans for himself. He only played 4 games at 12 and his first two were good games, thereafter he slipped along with his team mates.

Meyer is a big Frans fan and am sure he will play him at 12 as he is hell bent on playing Kirchner at 15. Jean does not work at 13, but Meyer will play him there.

Personally I would play Serfontein at 12, but my guess is he will get a game or two at the end of the year.

I am not sure why Jannie is struggling but he does not become a bad scrummager over night, so chances are he will be fine by June. 

Sadly I think we will see both Kruger and Spies in the starting 15.

I think Meyer's side will be very close to my Meyer pick above. We will beat Italy, Scotland and Samoa and Meyer will be lulled into a false sense of security leading into the RC