Ken Borland

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Heyneke Meyer has previously said that bowing to public opinion would be akin to having fans voting for the national team, but the Springbok coach has made what will be some popular selections in the squad announced on Sunday to tour Great Britain and Ireland.

While it’s a perfectly logical squad, featuring all the players who appeared for the Springboks this year and are fit, there will be some debate, as ever, round the flyhalf position.

Meyer has predictably named all three contenders – Elton Jantjies, Morne Steyn and Pat Lambie – in the squad and it would perhaps be best for the long-term growth of the Springboks if he spread the flyhalf duties between the trio for the three Tests against Ireland, Scotland and England.

There are five uncapped players in the 31-man squad, with lock Franco van der Merwe and scrumhalf Jano Vermaak having been round the block a few times, while outside backs Lionel Mapoe and 19-year-old Raymond Rhule have the flair and skills to be exciting additions to the Springbok backline in years to come.

Speaking of flair and skills, Meyer has decided to bring hooker cum part-time flank Schalk Brits in from the cold, the 31-year-old Saracens player having not represented the Springboks since 2008. The other overseas-based players in the squad are Ulster scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar, Bath flank Francois Louw and mountainous Toulouse loosehead prop Gurthro Steenkamp.

The other uncapped player in the touring group is loose forward Arno Botha, who has been part of the Springbok squad this year.

Meyer explained his reasoning by saying: “We’ve got a settled core of players that did the job during the England series and the Rugby Championship and we decided to stick with them.

“Gurthrö and Schalk are experienced front-rankers who have played for South Africa before and know the conditions in the Northern Hemisphere. This tour provides a good opportunity to assess them as we plan ahead. Arno, Lionel, Franco and Jano have all been part of our squad earlier in the season.

“Raymond put up his hand for the Junior Boks and the Cheetahs and I’m very excited to see what he can do. It’s also great to have JP Pietersen and Chiliboy Ralepelle back from injury as they bring a lot of experience to the squad.”

Meyer will also name a 32^nd squad member before the team depart for the United Kingdom on Saturday, with loose forward and outside back the two areas where the Springboks probably currently have holes.

Captain Jean de Villiers, who missed Western Province’s run-in to the Currie Cup title with a hamstring strain, will also have to prove his fitness before departure.

The Springboks have already been hard-hit by injuries with prop Coenie Oosthuizen, hookers Bismarck du Plessis and Tiaan Liebenberg, lock Andries Bekker, loose forwards Siya Kolisi, Jacques Potgieter and Pierre Spies, flyhalf Johan Goosen, centre Frans Steyn and wing Bryan Habana all being wounded in action this year.

Flanks Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Heinrich Brussow were all ruled out before the Springboks even stepped on to a field this year.

The injury curse got her dirty little hands into Habana over the weekend, the in-form winger leaving the field with a knee injury in the 14^th minute of the Currie Cup final after Beast Mtawarira hurled him to the ground at a ruck.

On the plus side though, Pietersen is back in the Springbok squad and will be hoping Lady Luck only has her best in store for him after he missed the entire Rugby Championship with a hand injury.

While Springbok fans have had to endure a diet of uninspired rugby and mostly defeats this year, the team began to show real promise in the second half of the Rugby Championship before the brilliant All Blacks gave them a lesson in Soweto.

Weather conditions overseas may favour Meyer’s preferred conservative game plan, but there are enough exciting youngsters in the squad for more glimmers of hope to be seen.

Springbok squad – Zane Kirchner (Bulls), Pat Lambie (Sharks), JP Pietersen (Sharks), Juan de Jongh (WP), Jaco Taute (Lions), Jean de Villiers (WP), Lionel Mapoe (Lions), Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks), Raymond Rhule (FS), Elton Jantjies (Lions), Morne Steyn (Bulls), Ruan Pienaar (Ulster), Francois Hougaard (Bulls), Jano Vermaak (Bulls), Duane Vermeulen (WP), Willem Alberts (Sharks), Arno Botha (Bulls), Francois Louw (Bath), Marcell Coetzee (Sharks), Juandre Kruger (Bulls), Franco van der Merwe (Lions), Eben Etzebeth (WP), Flip van der Merwe (Bulls), Jannie du Plessis (Sharks), Pat Cilliers (Lions), CJ van der Linde (Lions), Adriaan Strauss (FS), Chiliboy Ralepelle (Bulls), Schalk Brits (Saracens), Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), Gurthro Steenkamp (Toulouse).

Dropped flyhalf Morne Steyn will still be a key figure for the Springboks going forward, the South Africa team’s kicking coach, Louis Koen, said on Tuesday.

The out-of-form Steyn was dropped for last weekend’s Rugby Championship match against Australia and with the 20-year-old Johan Goosen starring in a 31-8 win that ended a record five-match losing streak against the Wallabies, many critics have begun writing the obituaries for Steyn’s international career.

But Koen said he believes the 28-year-old Steyn will make a rapid return to favour, despite the early succcess Goosen has enjoyed and the claims of another youngster, Currie Cup-winning flyhalf Elton Jantjies.

“Morne has played a lot of rugby recently, for three years consecutively at a very high level, and the pressure was starting to build. Fatigue does definitely have an effect on kicking, but he has a sensational technique and he will be back, I believe that with my whole heart.

“He will come back calmer, when there’s a little less pressure, and when we go on our overseas tour at the end of the year, conditions will be wetter and we’ll have to play a more tactical game. I believe Morne will still be an integral player for the Springboks in the future,” Koen told a news conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has been accused of having misplaced faith in Steyn after the hero of the Springboks’ 2009 and

2010 seasons lost his goalkicking touch and struggled to spark the team on attack.

Koen said he had logged every practice kick the Springboks have taken this year and Steyn was the most consistent kicker, succeeding with 88% of 620 attempts.

The former Springbok flyhalf said this pointed to the disappointing results on the field being a mental problem, although Koen admitted that “I’m no expert on the mental side of things”.

The kicking coach also strenuously denied that he had changed any of the goalkickers’ techniques.

“I haven’t changed one thing. Like my work with [Stormers flyhalf] Peter Grant in SuperRugby since 2005, it takes time to establish a relationship of trust and get behind their techniques. If they struggle, I’d like to get to where I can give them positive input, but at the moment I can’t do that out on the field. I’m not convinced it’s the way to go to change things right before a test,” Koen said.

Goosen is currently suffering from a bruised heel that made goalkicking painful for him and Koen said he is having to deal with his young protege’s frustration.

“Johan is very frustrated at the moment, he hasn’t been able to kick in training for two weeks. He’s worried and we just need to calm him down and tell him to focus on his natural game, which he did exceptionally well last weekend.

“But according to him, his general play is married to his goalkicking, he really feeds off it and it gives him confidence.

“The injury is to the flat pad of his heel, it’s a bone bruise. But it doesn’t affect his general play, he runs on the ball of his foot so he can definitely play even if he doesn’t kick,” Koen said.

Meanwhile, Springbok scrum coach Pieter de Villiers praised the All Blacks set-piece for being a formidable unit.

“Against Australia the scrums are more of a technical battle, but it’s more physical against New Zealand, they see scrums like we do. They have a very strong scrummaging unit as a whole, a well-balanced front row that gives them a solid base, and a powerful back five.

“They work together really well as a unit, their timing is good so they generate speed, which is what you need because the distance is shorter these days on the hit.

“The All Blacks have one of the best scrums in the world and we’ll need to be switched on,” De Villiers said.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer on Monday pronounced himself “very satisfied” with the Springboks’ 31-8 weekend win over Australia, but said they would have to be even more clinical to beat New Zealand in Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test in Soweto.

“It was a good performance, definitely the most satisfying of the year. We were clinical at times, but we’ll need to be even more clinical against the All Blacks and, if the game opens up, probably use the ball even more,” Meyer told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday.

“That was the type of rugby we want to play. This is a very special group of players, they’ve only had seven weeks of coaching and there’s a lot of youth in this team.

“I always knew this first year would be tough, but winning all of our home games was one of our goals,” the new Springbok coach said.

While Meyer, who firmly believes in continuity in selection, would like to choose an unchanged team for the match against the All Blacks, injuries could disrupt the much-improved backline.

Flyhalf Johan Goosen, who added a much-needed spark at flyhalf, is struggling with a bruised heel, while fullback Zane Kirchner’s hip was injured when Wallaby centre Adam Ashley-Cooper knocked himself out on it in tackling the dreadlocked player into the touchline to prevent a try on the stroke of half-time in Pretoria.

“I have a long-term plan and it’s important that I show the players that I believe in them and reward their good form.

“But we kept Johan out of training today. It’s important that he’s 100% on Saturday because, to beat the All Blacks, you have to kick at an 80% success rate and our kicking hasn’t been great this year,” Meyer said.

The coach also praised scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar for doing much to help Goosen in his first start at flyhalf.

“Ruan was great in taking the pressure off Johan. His tactical kicking and his service was awesome and it’s important for us that our scrumhalf plays well,” Meyer said.

The midfield combination of captain Jean de Villiers at inside centre and new cap Jaco Taute outside him is likely to stay as is because Francois Steyn is being sent for surgery on Wednesday.

Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts described the surgery as “the right thing for his long-term career prospects”.

“Frans has quite a few loose pieces of bone in his ankle and every now and then one of them gets lodged in the joint, causing him excruciating pain. As a long-term solution, we’re sending him for surgery to have it cleaned out on Wednesday. Unfortunately that means he will be out for three months and he will miss the end-of-year tour,” Roberts said.

Prop Coenie Oosthuizen, who was initially named on the bench for the Test against Australia after just 35 minutes of action following a neck injury, will see a specialist for a second opinion on his fitness on Tuesday.

“Again, we want to ensure we make the right long-term decision and I’m not happy with his neck, he still has some quite significant symptoms, especially stiffness,” Roberts said.

Flank Jacques Potgieter has also been released due to an abdominal strain and Meyer has called up the uncapped duo of Lions centre/wing Lionel Mapoe and Bulls loose forward Arno Botha.

Meyer said the statistics from Saturday’s win show that territory does still trump possession in terms of value.

“At this level you need to play a tactical game and we only had 45% possession against Australia. Our defence was also the best it’s been the whole year, we made 178 tackles compared to their 109, and we had a 96% completion rate, we only missed seven tackles,” Meyer said.

“Our lineout was also great and I’m very happy with our forwards, especially our loose forwards who are working very well together.”

Meyer said the Springboks’ whole game plan against the All Blacks would be geared towards stopping them from launching their fast-paced, expansive strategy.

“Playing at home, there’s always more pressure to run the ball, but that’s what New Zealand like because it gives them turnovers and they punish you. You will never beat New Zealand at their own game, you’ll never out-run them. You have to put pressure on them, especially at the breakdown, in defence and with your kicking game,” Meyer said.