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Shortly before the start of last Saturday’s Currie Cup final in Durban, everything pointed to a logical reunion on the three-Test trip of an old firm in the widest berths on the park: Habana and JP Pietersen, World Cup final winners at Nos 11 and 14 respectively when the Boks claimed the 2007 spoils against England.
Their alliance earlier in the season was interrupted, of course, when the long-striding Pietersen, then playing some sublime rugby, fractured a thumb in the Super Rugby final between the Sharks and Chiefs in Hamilton and missed the Castle Rugby Championship.
Habana made a temporary positional switch to right wing, where he fitted in commendably well, but would almost certainly have reverted to his more traditional left with the recent return to fitness of Pietersen.
But then Habana hobbled off with a knee injury only 14 minutes into the domestic showpiece, where his one-on-one duel with Pietersen had already been developing into a highly watchable little scrap.
It was later confirmed that the resurgent Western Province customer would join a swelling list of senior absentees from the Bok tour.
For the lion’s share of the Championship campaign, the Boks fielded Francois Hougaard at No 11, after his struggle to really impose himself at scrumhalf in early combat, where he in turn grabbed the back-three shirt from Sharks flier Lwazi Mvovo.
Hougaard, who again tours the northern hemisphere as a versatile, designated “scrumhalf/wing”, cannot be considered to have quite made the wider spot his own yet, either.
He had a difficult day at left wing when the All Blacks turned on an attacking charm offensive in the closing Championship fixture at FNB Stadium, winning it 32-16 after the Boks had had their noses promisingly in front in the first half – but then so did several other Bok backline players, in fairness.
So Meyer, unless he plans some sort of out-of-position curveball, may well be wrestling with a trio of possibilities at No 11 for the first assignment against Ireland in Dublin on November 10: incumbent Hougaard, Mvovo or his rookie Cheetahs pick Raymond Rhule.
Mvovo does have some prior experience of heavier European pitches, having made his Bok debut on the last tour of northern climes in 2010 ... unfortunately for him in the Edinburgh quagmire where the Boks were upset 21-17.
He did follow that up, mind, with his maiden Test try a week later when South Africa impressively saw off England 21-11 at Twickenham.
If it is going to come down to a shootout between Hougaard and Mvovo, Meyer could hardly be blamed if he considered it a bit of a “six of one, half a dozen of the other” scenario.
The riskiest but perhaps most exciting choice Meyer could make is to catapult the 19-year-old, Ghanaian-born Rhule straight into Test battle against the unsuspecting Irish – this year’s Currie Cup only confirmed the IRB Junior World Championship-winning player’s dynamic pace and power.
Whether he does go that adventurous route or opts instead to blood Rhule more gently, the Bok coach is surely to be commended – for all his other, perceived faults in a taxing first season in charge thus far – for his willingness to infuse pretty raw talent to the national set-up.
Players in this category include Eben Etzebeth (an extraordinary 2012 success for both franchise and country), Johan Goosen and Marcell Coetzee.
Bok squad preparations for the tour begin in Cape Town on Wednesday.
*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
