There is with justification thunderous demands in the media for the selection of Kriel in the Springbok side - his performance in his first year in Super 15 has even eclipsed that of Pollard in last years Super 15.
However, for me there is one uncertainty - in which position should he be played?
* Are we really that desperate in need of another full back or should we rather look elsewhere in the backline for a position for him.
* Could Kriel be the solution to the number 13 position where Meyer played no less than 9 players since 2012 - none with particularly good results.
* Is Kriel and other youngsters like Vorster and Odendaal not the answer at 13?
I believe that Willie le Roux is still highly-rated as a full back. I think that he is put in a serious disadvantage because of the dull performances of the rest of the Springboks and Cheetahs backline and the fact that because he was the main playmaker in the backline until the arrival of Pollard allowed defenders to target him more than any other backline player. Mallett said that he is trying too much and that could also be the result of too high a reliance on him by the Springboks and the Cheetahs. If there are "sharper shooters" in the rest of the backline, Le Roux himself will have an easier life as a playmaker, since they would also have to consider other players to guard against.
This is where I believe we should look at Kriel at 13. That is the position in which he played in the Under20 WC last year. He was brilliant in that position and was to my mind the best 13 in that tournament. However, I believe that players like Vorster and Odendaal could also be back-ups for him in the 13 position, while they should also be the back-ups for De Allende at 12.
A backline consisting all of Le Roux, Habana, Hougaard, Kriel, De Allende, Pollard and Reinach would be a handful for any international backline - especially since all the above can be regarded as excellent playmakers in their own right. There are indeed other players in the same mould as well - I would include in that regard Lambie and De Klerk as well.
Of the above only Habana is of the "old guard" - the rest are young players with a long playing career being possible. There are already signs that other youngsters like Van Wyk and Kolbe can also develop in future to replace Habana.
Our mistake is that we waited too long to make fundamental changes to the backline with players like Du Preez. Pienaar, Morne Steyn, Francois Steyn, JP Pietersen and Fourie du Preez from a glorious past losing their edge in the past few years. There was a serious downturn in the performances of De Villiers last year compared to 2013 and Fransie is not a shadow of the player he was before his departure for France. Du Preez and Pienaar are way past their best as well and Morne never really was an acceptable flyhalf. Fourie's last test performances was totally dull and uninspiring. Of the above I would rate De Villiers in his prime as a playmaker - while to a much lesser extent Du Preez could make a similar claim. The rest was plain and simply journeymen.
My backline for the upcoming RC would be -
15 Le Roux
14 Hougaard
13 Kriel
12 De Allende
11 Habana
10 Pollard
9 Reinach
The Bench should be as follows:-
21 De Klerk
22 Lambie
23 Serfontein
Other bench players to be considered could be Goosen, Vorster, Odendaal, Kolbe and Van Wyk.
The above backline as a whole would be an all-round better combination than any Springbok backline was during the past decade.
