Springboks are only at the beginning of their transformation.

Since the retirement from international rugby for a host of Springboks and the number of Springboks soon to leave the Shores for more lucrative contracts overseas it is becoming increasingly more difficult to depend on these players for international duty.

It does leave South Africa short on experience across the board in a number of positions, so much so that Heyneke Meyer had to introduce 19 debutants in the past 12 months.

The best way forward I believe is for Heyneke Meyer to ignore all players on their way to Europe or Japan as the contractual issues involved for some of these players just make it too challenging to secure their services for international duty. Apart from not having them compete against their peers on a domestic level to see how they compare, the lack of preparation time and the doubt of whether they will be available suggests that continuity of selection can become an issue.

There is a stark reality which I only came to realise when I started looking at the available players once you have removed the players travelling overseas, and that is the fact that Pieter de Villiers have left SA rugby in a much worse state than what he received it.

As the custodian of the Springbok team your responsibility in your fiduciary capacity is to maintain the property put in your care and to hand it over in the same or better state than what you found it.

We all know that the team Jake White built was the mainstay of Pieter de Villiers’ team and as many as 18 of Jake White’s players went to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The problem though is due to the fact that Pieter de Villiers did not expose any players other than those needed in times of injury means that Heyneke Meyer now sits in a catch 22 situation.

When you look at his current first choice players who are bound to leave or are already plying their trade overseas, there are no experienced players to replace them.

Francois Louw – (age 28, 19 caps)
Andries Bekker – (age 29, 29 caps)
Juandre Kruger – (age 27, 11 caps)
Ruan Pienaar – (age 29, 66 caps)
Morne Steyn – (age 28, 45 caps)
Bryan Habana – (age 30, 86 caps)
JP Pietersen – (age 26, 48 caps)
Zane Kirchner – (age 29, 24 caps)
Frans Steyn – (age 26, 53 caps)

These are all first choice players leaving South Africa.

The problem comes in with their replacements and the lack of experience.

The only players left in South Africa and still first choice are:
Tendai Mtwarira -( age 27, 44 caps)
Bismarck du Plessis – (age 29, 48 caps)
Adriaan Strauss –(age 27, 24 caps)
Jannie du Plessis – (age 30, 45 caps)
Flip v d Merwe – (age 28, 26 caps)
Willem Alberts (age 29, 21 caps)
Pierre Spies – (age 28, 53 caps)
Francois Hougaard – (age 25, 27 caps)
Jean de Villiers – (age 32, 87 caps)
Juan de Jongh –(age 25, 14 caps)
Bjorn Basson –(age 26, 8 caps)
Frans Steyn – (age 26, 53 caps)

This is the sum total of experienced players in South Africa currently in the picture for South Africa. It immediately suggest that by hanging on to Jake White’s players Pieter de Villiers has left a big void that now puts Heyeneke Meyer in a situation where he is left with a cupboard bare of players to select from, no wonder 19 players have made their debut since June last year.

Although it could speel an exciting time for South Africa, the players being looked at and the lack of inexperience is what has forced Meyer thus far to continue selecting overseas based players, which now has the knock on effect of more leaving as they can have their bread buttered on both sides.

For me, Meyer must now be strong in his conviction to build a new team, and somehow convince SARU that the coming Rugby World Cup is not going to be the target, but the one thereafter.

The next bunch of players being looked at has an average age of less than 22.

Coenie Oosthuizen – (age 24, 5 caps)
Trevor Nyakane – (age 24, 3 caps)
Patrick Cilliers – (age 26, 6 caps)
Eben Etzebeth – (age 21, 14 caps)
Pieter Steph du Toit – (age 20, 0 caps)
Marcell Coetzee – (age 22, 14 caps)
Siya Kolisi – (age 22, 2 caps)
Arno Botha – (age 21, 2 caps)
Duane Vermeulen – (age 26, 7 caps)
Piet Van Zyl – (age 23, 2 caps)
Johan Goosen – (age 20, 4 caps)
Patrick Lambie – (age 22, 23 caps)
JJ Engelbrecht – (Age 24, 4 caps)
Jan Serfontein – ( age 20, 3 caps)
Jaco Taute – (age 22, 4 caps)
Willie le Roux – (age 23, 3 caps)

The challenge for Meyer will be to find a way to mix the few experienced players with all these youngsters and keep winning, it could spell a disastrous few years, or perhaps a new beginning with players keen on playing with ball in hand.

We’ll have to wait and see.

Hmm, yes it does look bad.

But when you look at the situation Peter de Villiers was left with it was basically the same. He just asked the people that left if they wouldn't consider to still ply their trade in SA.

Heineke can do the same that PDV did but then the team will be average age of 30 at the RWC and we will probably be in the same situation than the last RWC.

I think we have enough to build off, but I would have liked to have Frans Louw and JP in my team.

There are certain positions where SA are going to look even better with the new batch of players. Can you think of a more exciting second row pairing than Eben Etzebeth and Pieter Steph Du Toit?

The back line also looks like it could be a lot more dangerous and creative with the new batch of players. Serfontein especially looks like something special.

Yeah Rory, I have a different take on this whole situation, I beleive Heyneke Meyer should have been given the job for 8 years.

In my view when you have to start from scratch like Meyer (or anyone else in this position) to build a squad over 4 years is not enough.

What you basically want to do is clean house, get rid of the older and off form guys, reputations must mean little.

Keep only the best of the best, and only those with leadership capabilities. Then you start looking at the most promising youngsters for the forst four years, that must be the core of your squad for the next four years, if someone promising comes along there after obviously you won't exclude them.

In the first world cup the players are there to build experience, if you make a final with the young squad great, but they are there without the pressure and expectation to win.

Then the next four years you hone your skills as a team and become great.

No country will be able to win every world cup, even if they focus on it, aim to win every second one.

Sadly but with the game now professional, economics are always something that need to be factored in so it's maybe a bit harsh to blame P Diddly for players leaving for more ££££ (ok, it was rand but my keyboard doesn't have that sign!)
Are central contracts a la Scotland, Wales and Ireland the way to go?
Do players in SA perhaps get a bit stale and look to Europe for the challenge of the HC where you play teams from other countries instead of the same old faces week in, week out?
What wou;ld really get on my thruppeny bits are the likes of England snaffling playesr through residency or worse still, Scotland for bringing them o ver here and then starting the residency clock. At least England have the "decency" to wait until Barrett , Hartely etc were playing in England before making their move.
Controversially, is there a pride in wearing the national jersey (maybe flows from my last point)
None of the above is a criticism; merely thoughts being flung into the ring.

On the other hand, let's keep some perspective - your playing numbers and basic skill levels are miles ahead of the likes of us. If you can really tap into the black community, there are even greater numbers waiting to be discovered

Injured I think you have touched on most of the issues.

Money definitely, new experiences yes.

I don't think the "poaching" of young players are going to stop, in fact it feels to me that more and more countries are "gearing" their systems in order to better their chances of pulling in more players from not only SA but all over, it isn't something we can halt, hence the importance of better forward planning.

SARU has taken the first step, they made our U20 team our second team which at least takes care of the youngsters at age group who have represented us, however that is only a small portion of our youngsters.

We need to expose more players on a regular basis to international rugby and cannot expect to rely on loyalty to keep players at home.

Hello Bilt,

Still cringe thinking of the wasted yeas under P Div. Little development of players, game plan etc. Furthermore, the team he had and talent available should have had a 85% win rate during that period and only an 09 Lions and 3N to show for it is not good enough. However, lets move on shall we.....

I for one am optimistic about where he Boks are heading. There is a nice blend of experience and youth that in two years time will be well balanced.

Hopefully some overseas players will be coming back especially J Fourie (I still see Fourie and F Steyn as our best centre pairing for 2015).

I like the shaping of the back row, the depth at hooker, strengh of lineout and speed out wide. Things are on track and developing well. We will have a seriously large and mobile pack (with good skills) and a bench full of impact. The team can play it tight and scrum and maul when necessary or at speed and spread it also when the time is right.

The issue HM faces is that in SA we are very results driven and expect a good win always (except when the AB's are involved). This leaves little room for rotation and experimentation as the fear / impact of losing is always there.

However, I think that HM has the Boks on the way to being a serious contender for the RWC 2015.

Any changes to SA in the forwards is to me compensated by enforced changes in the backs. Louw is a big loss but there are players who can do a similar job. The young players in the backs however lack experience but offer something older players don't have: attacking confidence. They have a rawness that might be tested at test level but their intent won't be criticized and to a large extent results will be forgiven if they move towards a more varied game. Forcing HM's hand in the long run will have a positive impact the way I see it.

InjuredYetAgain wrote:for players leaving for more ££££ (ok, it was rand but my keyboard doesn't have that sign!)

Apologies for my pedanticism but your keyboard should have that sign between the "E" and the "T".

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Any changes to SA in the forwards is to me compensated by enforced changes in the backs. Louw is a big loss but there are players who can do a similar job. The young players in the backs however lack experience but offer something older players don't have: attacking confidence. They have a rawness that might be tested at test level but their intent won't be criticized and to a large extent results will be forgiven if they move towards a more varied game. Forcing HM's hand in the long run will have a positive impact the way I see it.

Meyers making up for lost time. Like PDV he didnt evolve the team enough, something he should have done in his debut year. Injuries have forced most of the changes over the last two years so jury's still out on his ability to develop the core strengths of SA rugby to the next level. Agree that SA have the players, and theyve had a good start, but that clear difference between sxv and test level isnt established yet. When it is...then we'll be in trouble. Interesting year ahead, many new faces across all our sides...and now Mackenzie and the likely return of Quade and McCaw to spice it up more...

Taylorman wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Any changes to SA in the forwards is to me compensated by enforced changes in the backs. Louw is a big loss but there are players who can do a similar job. The young players in the backs however lack experience but offer something older players don't have: attacking confidence. They have a rawness that might be tested at test level but their intent won't be criticized and to a large extent results will be forgiven if they move towards a more varied game. Forcing HM's hand in the long run will have a positive impact the way I see it.

Meyers making up for lost time. Like PDV he didnt evolve the team enough, something he should have done in his debut year.  Injuries have forced most of the changes over the last two years so jury's still out on his ability to develop the core strengths of SA rugby to the next level. Agree that SA have the players, and theyve had a good start, but that clear difference between sxv and test level isnt established yet.  When it is...then we'll be in trouble. Interesting year ahead, many new faces across all our sides...and now Mackenzie and the likely return of Quade and McCaw to spice it up more...

Taylorman, I think the development of the game plan will only come next year to be honest. Last year there were oodles of debutants in the forwards and Meyer has always said he wants to establish the foundation of his team before he is going to be concerned with evolving the attack.

Having seen 19 debutants in 12 months (more than PDV had in his whole 4 years) is tough enough without wanting to change the attack.

In my view the priorities this year must e to finalise his core group of players, then get the fundamentals right at the breakdown, defensive organisation, set piece etc.

Then next year when all the fundamentals are in place it is time to evolve, the fact is this year allow players such as Willie le Roux the freedom to play what he sees, that way it allows sufficient time for Meyer to assess the strnegths of each players before moulding a plan of attack together.