The truth is often hard to locate in pre-Test build-ups but, in cloak-and-dagger terms, the Springboks surpassed themselves yesterday ahead of tomorrow's Twickenham meeting with England by tearing up the team sheet issued by Harry Viljoen on Tuesday and making substantial changes to their original back line.
With the wing Pieter Rossouw, as expected, ruled out with a hamstring problem, Viljoen has finally abandoned his pretence that Percy Montgomery would remain at outhalf by shifting the blond-haired Western Province player back to his customary full-back position, inserting Braam van Straaten back at number 10 and drafting the no-nonsense Japie Mulder into his midfield.
Stefan Terblanche, initially picked at full back, reverts to his usual position on the wing and there is even a change on the bench, where the Natal flanker Warren Brosnihan has been added in place of the Western Province lock Hottie Louw. It is not so much a reshuffle as a virtual redraw and, despite Viljoen's protestations, reflects poorly on the South African management.
Viljoen and his cohorts attracted flak last week for not revealing the side to face Wales until the day before the game, contrary to International Board regulations that insist coaches must show their hands at least 48 hours in advance.
The new Springbok coach explained yesterday he had wanted to give his players some "peace and quiet["] in the build-up to the England Test, but if the idea was to bamboozle the home camp it has been a comprehensive failure.
"We thought they might do that anyway. I just thought it fitted better with the injuries they had," said England's captain Martin Johnson, looking supremely unconcerned in Bagshot yesterday. "The majority of our training is about concentrating on what we're trying to do. Van Straaten is a different player from Montgomery but it doesn't change things a great deal."
Given the saturated nature of the Twickenham pitch, a dodgy forecast and the likelihood of a tight game in which kicking will be crucial, it was always a good bet that Viljoen would ultimately employ the considerable boot of Van Straaten in his favoured position. The novel ban on kicking imposed on the side in Buenos Aires will not get the Boks very far in a miserable London winter and, judging by the number of handing errors England and Argentina committed last weekend, nittygritty rugby looks almost certain to be the order of the day.
"The way they want to play is very exciting but the conditions in the UK at the moment don't particularly suit that kind of rugby," Johnson cautioned. "I've never seen Twickenham like it was last week. It did not look all that different to the Australia game but in fact it was almost waterlogged."
Clive Woodward's own team selection for this weekend duly reflected that fact. The England manager's plans may yet have to be revised, however: Mike Catt faces a fitness test today on his bruised ribs and Will Greenwood is standing by.
The midfield will be a pivotal area of the contest, along with the back row and the goal-kicking, and in Mulder and Robbie Fleck the South Africans have two of the more fiery practitioners.
Mulder, who was disciplined after incidents in the midweek game against Wales A, has plenty of what Viljoen yesterday called "physical presence", and the coach has already had a long chat with Fleck about his wild-eyed performance against Wales on Sunday.
"I've had a very long discussion with him and pointed out that what he did on Sunday was unacceptable. We want controlled aggression. What he did was way beyond that."
Kieron Dawson looks certain to miss the Six Nations Championship. The 25-year-old London Irish flanker will need surgery after injuring his neck in Ireland's match against Japan last month.
SOUTH AFRICA: Mulder, Terblanche; Van Straaten, Van der Westhuizen; Kempson, Smit, Meyer, Van den Berg, Andrews, Krige, Venter, Vos (capt). Replacements: Marais, Le Roux, Brosnihan, Venter, Van Zyl, Esterhuizen, Williams.
