Once again we head down Dead End Street

There are many picks in our current team who won't be there for the WC. That means slippage....inefficiency. It means games played honing a style around players that can't be a lasting core. 
I exempt Combrink, Faf, Habana who is a placeholder, Beast who is a placeholder, Etzebeth and Louw who is a placeholder.
Placeholder players should naturally yield when worthy challengers emerge....so far for the players mentioned, except for Kitshoff no compelling replacements have emerged.
As for the rest they are all fatally flawed. And the only excuse for choosing them is that we have none better.....but we do in some cases
Rohan is a real test type centre...unlike Allende
Pollard is much better suited than Jantjies and hopefully will recover. 
Marx a better option than Strauss
Kitshoff ready to displace the Beast a player who is still total test class.
Willemse a better partner for Etzebeth than Lomp

These players should be getting into the starting team vs the guys who won't be there for the WC. That leaves several positions unresolved. But at least it's a sustainable start that looks like a bit of a foundation.