Firstly, well done to Mr Meyer and the Boks for a successful Xmas expedition! Won all their games, so job done and most of the time done well.
What bothers yours truly is Mr Meyer’s excuse not to pick Pieter Steph-du Toit starting at no.5. Flip vd Merwe did well, however, he is a number 4 lock. The Boks did well in 2009 because they had Victor Matfield demolishing opposition’s lineouts. His presence made opponents panic. VD Merwe will not be that factor. To use the fact that no.5 MUST make the lineout calls is rubbish! Just because Matfield did it well, it is not set in stone that it has to be done by all teams.
Mr Meyer, wingers (when they threw into the lineouts), hookers, captains (Morne du Plessis did this) and scrumhalves all did this for various teams. Personally, I believe the scrumhalf is the best suited for this job. The little generals are normally more intelligent than forwards and are the link with the backline. The flyhalf or inside centre is best suited to call starter moves and where and how quickly the ball is won from first phase is crucial.
So if the backline (flyhalf) directs, the scrumhalf could then make a more appropriate call from where or to whom the lineout throw should go! Use ir or don’t! But, don’t use that as an excuse to not pick Steph-du Toit. On the up, Andries Bekker will be available in 2015 and he has presence in line-outs. Now before bloggers bash my choice (you are free to do), yours truly told you many moons ago that Pierre Spies is a show pony and Vermeulen a much better test no.8 as well as for the overrrated Heinrcih Brussow, where Francois Louw has semented his place now. Ditto for Zane Kirchner vs Willie le Roux or Patrick Lambie.