Resisting the Urge

Heyneke's reign will be made or broken by his ability to see the real value of the players in South Africa. I have often remarked upon this unnatural and wildly erratic views our supporters hold and how easily they are swayed by the media and little evidence. Peter de Villiers made the mistake of yeilding to this pressure several times at great costs. There was the plan to accomodate Bismarck at Smit's expense, the constant retention of Jean despite his flaws, the Patrick Lambie experiment at flyhalf, the Jantjies humiliation against the Barbarians, the constant switching of fullbacks and wings and of course, Luke Watson who was hyped as being probably the best player in South Africa. All of this led to four years of very little development and more questions raised than answered. Meyer must see through the Bismarck and Lambie hype first and foremost and select for substance and ability rather than a hollow perception or for superficial qualities. The English are arriving with a genuine belief of catching is with our pants down so anything but a strong finish to this series will leave us in something of a crisis. Meyer must look no further than 2008 for a sharp warning.

My advice Aristo.....if you gotta go, you gotta go.

Aristo

Agree with you to a large extent on this one.    Some players mentioned is however, totally flawed.   Smit should have retired at age 31 - when he went past his sell by date.   Bismark over the past three years was ten times the hooker Smit was.      Lambie is ten times better flyhalf than Steyn would ever be and that is a fact.   Luke Watson was never really in contention for selection - right in that respect.   

Bissie is widely regarded as the best hooker in the world, Jean has had a distingused career and Lambie is a fine young player. .End of story.

Lambie was a flopper in all tests at 10, fact. Bismarck has been a flopper his entire career, fact.