There is not a single Bok supporter who does not want to see the team succeed regardless of who plays we want to see a victory and celebrate it. However the entire selection process seems fraught with confusion and the lack of transparency leaves us all stunned when the team sheet finally comes out.

Adi Jacobs as likeable a player as he is, simply does not deserve his place in the squad. He could not even make the Sharks bench and is clearly unfit. PDV obviously knows this otherwise he would not have retreaded a fullback in Zane Kirchner and chosen him to play at No.13. Asked why he selected Jacobs in the Springbok squad PDV answers : “Adi has rugby vision and the skills to exploit it but has been hampered by injury since showing that once again in the opening rounds of Vodacom Super 14. He is also an experienced operator which is why he was called back into the Bok squad after the injury to Juan de Jongh.”

‘An experienced operator’ are you kidding me? Naas Botha is an experienced operator but who would pick him today? Jacobs has been clearly shown favouritism over in form centres like Andries Strauss who played brilliantly this season.

It is decisions like this that makes a Springbok fans annoyance boil especially when we all know there are better players that could be used.

Spies has been a favourite of PDV for years now and he seems determined to get the Bulls eighth man in the team by any means. Spies is palpably not the best in the country on current form but form doesn’t seem to matter if you are one of PDV’s heroes. Kankowski can’t even find a place on the bench which is absurd.

The whole process of getting a team out on the park seems shrouded in mystification and one can’t help but feel a lack of confidence as we build up to the World Cup. When asked what pattern of play he was going to adopt for the World Cup, PDV as clichéd as ever said “ The only style that matters at a RWC is a winning style and as the game continues to evolve depending on the emphasis on Law interpretations it’s hard to predict just where it will be in 11 months time. But the old basics will always apply: good defence, commitment at the collision point and cutting down on mistakes.”

So near to the World Cup and still no plan PDV?

Later he was asked : Why are you not divulging your plans to get fans to support you? Not your secret tactics, but complete opacity about what you are trying to do? PDV’s response? “Don’t  fans only care about winning? At the end of last year’s Vodacom Tri-Nations I don’t recall that people were calling for our game plans. I think it is more about execution than anything else for us and if we execute as we can on our plans then we’ll do well.”

So no game plans either?

On the positives it is going to be a treat to finally see Ruan Pienaar starting at his favorite position at scrumhalf. He will know the Irish players well having played in Ulster for the past months and Basson will be looking forward to finding some space out wide to showcase his speed and along with Lambie must be relishing their opportunity to play test rugby.

However there is just too much smoke and mirrors people are confused and instead of getting behind the team they love are left wondering if incompetence and arrogance is handicapping the team before they even set foot on the field.

Come Saturday however we will all be screaming for a Bok win, the dice has been thrown by the three ‘wise men’ who like us will be hoping for a miracle!

Ireland:

15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy

Substitutes: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donncha Ryan, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Keith Earls

South Africa:

15 Gio Aplon, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Zane Kirchner, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Adi Jacobs, 22 Pat Lambie