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When the prodigal son returns it is customary to slaughter your prized lamb, deck the dinner table with the shiny porcelain dinnerware and bring out the best bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from the cellar.
At the dinner table the conversation will inevitably turn to ‘so what have you been up to, how’s the health, are you making money’.
At least that is what I suspect when Heyneke Meyer receives his overseas Springboks prior to an international series or tournament. The only difference is he would be less concerned about their financial windfall overseas, but rather their physical and mental health.
Over the current season South Africa have been hard hit with injuries and, suffice to say the list is rather extended, there are 30 players unavailable for selection.
This has led to a number of new caps over the June series and this obviously has provided him with a look into what he would have considered bench or impact players previously.
After witnessing the Test series during the month of June, I began to wonder whether Meyer really needed these overseas players and if so, which of them were irreplaceable at this stage, considering there are roughly 18 Tests remaining before the Rugby World Cup next year.
Our esteemed Guru Harry Jones recently suggested in his article that Meyer might be the first coach to get an extension on his contract with SARU. I question the validity of that statement purely because if Meyer were aware of this, he would have used his time during this term more wisely.
There is one glaring weakness in Meyer’s development plan when you look at halfbacks.
Since 2012, the only debutants for South Africa at halfback was Piet van Zyl and Jano Vermaak. Van Zyl has a total exposure to international rugby of 12 and 15 minutes respectively as a sub in 2013.
In the case of Vermaak, he had one starter and two matches as a sub for a little less than 100 minutes of international exposure.
The regular starters were Ruan Pienaar (20 Tests), who is living in the shadow of Fourie du Preez (8 Tests), Meyer’s first choice halfback but rarely available due to club commitments, and Francois Hougaard (6 Tests).
So it is safe to say Meyer has little or no doubt which halfbacks are going to the World Cup. Problem is each of his three regular starters have issues.
Du Preez is truly the prodigal son, there’s much promise of coming home, but rather unreliable in availability, Ruan Pienaar is more keen to return, but rather limited in his approach to the modern quick game the Springboks are employing. And sadly for him, he’s not the favourite son. Then Hougaard, while the son at home, is limited in other areas and often goes on the walk about during periods when calm and control are required.
Morne Steyn is likely the most talked about player in South Africa, but I am afraid, for all the wrong reasons.
Many would think of him as the prodigal son, as he is clearly a favourite of Heyneke Meyer. The manner in which Meyer lauds the abilities of Steyn is dumbfounding to many, to such an extent that I am wondering whether compromising photos of Meyer aren’t stashed away somewhere in a safety deposit box in Paris.
The unfortunate situation for South Africa is that even if Steyn did not have those compromising photos, his selection has been made so much easier due to consistent injuries to Johan Goosen and Patrick Lambie.
The fortunate thing though, is that Handre Pollard, earmarked by Meyer since the age of 16, showed last weekend that there is more to fly half play than just looking at the gap, but rather hitting it at full pace.
Not everything about Steyn is negative though. He has a metronome boot, he plays error free rugby and isn’t a turnstile in defence. He reminds me of a Toyota Corolla 1.6 base model.
As reliable as you want any vehicle to be, it may hardly ever let you down but can be devoid of any moment of sheer driving pleasure.
Even the most sedate driver among us would admit to those moments of an undeniable need to drop down, release the clutch, put the foot down and overtake the 1.3 Corolla ahead of him.
The reality is with Steyn controlling play, the Springboks have not managed to regain the top spot in world rugby since 2009, and continuing with this folly would extend the period of dominance by the All Blacks over South Africa.
The blame does not lie with one player only, but when your pivot loses his form with the boot as he did in 2012, what benefit is that reliable Toyota then?
Francois Louw is highly regarded by many, and I have no real issues with his work rate or ability to work the breakdown, but when you have players like Bismarck du Plessis and Duane Vermeulen, who are as adept to control the breakdown and slow opposition ball, and you then look at the improvement of Marcell Coetzee, do we really need Louw?
Is there not a case to be made for Heinrich Bruessow, the one Springboks player who has never tasted defeat against Richie McCaw’s men?
Before this attempt at an article becomes a thesis more inclined to bore the reader to death I would like to make one last comment.
If Meyer were to reconsider his overseas selections, the one player who without any doubt is still the best winger South Africa has ever produced, then it would be Bryan Gary Habana.
He is the prodigal son I would bring out my best bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.