Heyneke Meyer (Gallo)

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An unbeaten end-of-year-tour, not something the Springboks have managed often, will go a long way to muzzling the fairly widespread disaffection with the cautious Bok playing style for meaty parts of his 2012 tenure.

Lose to the English – still arguably the team South Africans least like playing second fiddle to – and the poor fellow will be back to square one, in many respects, and far likelier to cop an earful from know-it-alls in the checkout queue.

So the stakes are pretty high as the Boks brace themselves for their 12^th and last assignment of the year ... and not just for the coach.

Assuming they conquer “Twickers”, no matter how that is actually achieved, the majority of players Meyer took on tour with him – though obviously predominantly those who actually got decent game-time – are likely to be viewed in a favourable light when the international programme gets underway next year.

An added incentive for incumbents, however, is that several stalwart Springboks presently in varying stages of injury rehabilitation will have filtered back into contention, their number presumably including such names as Bryan Habana, Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, Beast Mtawarira, Heinrich Brussow, Johan Goosen, Pierre Spies and Andries Bekker.

So the heat is on certain representatives of the start-out team at Twickenham, who may be described as not quite “indispensable” to the cause right now, to make a compelling mark against England, which could sway their levels of national-team deployment (or inactivity) in 2013.

Into that category might fall fullback Zane Kirchner -- efficient defensively but still conspicuously muted in an attacking capacity -- left wing Francois Hougaard, centre Juan de Jongh, flyhalf Pat Lambie, scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar, lock Juandre Kruger and loosehead prop Gurthro Steenkamp.

Who, by contrast, are the genuinely “nailed down” Boks in the current first XV?

 JP Pietersen has been excellent all year and, with a view to next, may just be the only backline player to merit such status – as much as anything, a statement about the relative sterility of Bok offensive play.

Depending on Meyer’s longer-term thinking, his staple, heavily-worked captain in 2012, Jean de Villiers, may well fall into that bracket of confidence as well; my slight reservation is largely on the grounds that De Villiers turns 32 in February and is heading for his twilight.

The pack contains a far greater batch of players who deserve to be top picks in their positions or at least hugely worthy rivals to expected returnees next season: they would include the entire loose trio seeing service together again on Saturday, that sensational second-row find Eben Etzebeth, plus undoubtedly world-class front-rowers Jannie du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss.

Particularly for someone like Lambie, who left the jury very much undecided after his so-so showings in the key flyhalf slot against both Ireland and Scotland, Twickenham is an important personal date.

It will not have escaped Lambie’s notice that coach Meyer has demoted Morne Steyn, who he once trusted so resolutely, from the bench this weekend, in favour of someone whose playing style is probably closer to the Sharks customer’s – so if Lambie fails to meaningfully “spark” at Twickenham, Elton Jantjies may earn some second-half service in one of rugby’s most hallowed cauldrons.

For the most part, the Bok coach does not warrant criticism for his decision to overwhelmingly favour continuity of a winning habit for Saturday’s match, however much the Boks lost their front-foot lustre in the second half against the ordinary Scots at Murrayfield.

And while the howls of protest over the low-on-entertainment playing formula over the course of the first two Tests on this venture are understandable and justified to a major degree, one thing that is apparent from the side Meyer will field in London is that he has certainly “evolved” it in several ways, from a personnel point of view, since the last meeting between the countries at Port Elizabeth back in late June.

For those who suggest he is “stubborn” or even “arrogant”, he has actually bowed to common sense by gradually marginalising such players – from the rather grim 14-14 draw in a dead-rubber game – as ineffectual halfbacks Steyn and Hougaard (albeit now stationed at No 11) and the cumbersome flank Jacques Potgieter.

A midfield pairing of De Villiers and De Jongh for Twickenham is also likely to find broader public favour than the alliance at the time of De Villiers (then still at less ideal outside centre) and Wynand Olivier ...

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing