I was watching the Springbok squad announcement for the year end tour and was thinking that some players were rather lucky to be there and others very unlucky not to be there, but then I thought how do you pick a squad? Do you go for players purely on form? Or do you pick a player with potential who might not be on form right now, but one you know can perform when the time comes?
In South Africa we have some unbelievable talent, but not all of those talented players are going to be great Springboks, some will be very good provincial players, but will never be able to step up to International level. Some may surprise everyone and make that transition comfortably, especially if they have the talent and composure.
In the past some players have been given a chance to prove themselves and failed dismally, but a fortunate few have gone into the side raised eyebrows and then gone onto great things, that is just the chance you take as a coach. You are asked to put your faith in someone and hope they repay the favour when called upon. But before I delve to deep into how tough a coach's job is, I think it is fair to say that there are some exciting prospects in the 37 man squad who will play against Saracens and Leicester, but the match day core 22 of the Tri Nations remains largely intact and ready to pulverize France, Italy and Ireland.