Having played less than an hour of test match rugby, it would hardly be fair to rate Lambie who has generally only come on to the field when the Boks have either been under immense pressure or for the solitary one minute against England which was a pointless exercise by the coach anyway.

However in the few glimpses that we have seen of Lambie one can’t help but feel that he has not succeeded in displaying the type of form that he did for the Sharks this year. It is not because he is not good enough, he is the most exciting prospect that South African rugby has, but it is because one gets the impression that the Bok style of rugby doesn’t fully showcase his extreme talent.

His obvious skills are his passing, ability to play with spatial awareness and getting a backline working with good clean, flat passes. He has come through the Sharks Academy and through Michaelhouse and both systems revolves around running rugby. In his school days he was legendary for running the ball up from his fullback position with the wings coming in support; rarely did he do much kicking. It has been a similar style of rugby that the Sharks have played since his involvement and it is one reason why he adapted so quickly and churned out performance after performance with a display of sublime brilliance.

I get the notion that with the Springboks insistence of playing a forwards dominated style, keeping ball in hand and using raw power to numb the opposition, pressure is brought to bear on Lambie to kick more than he has ever had to do before and if there is one weakness in his play it is his kicking.

When he played for the U19’s and U21’s he was the designated goal kicker and in that environment was very good especially for his age. However he is no Morne Steyn when it comes to accuracy and with a nasty ‘hook’ that sometimes raises its ugly head when he kicks for points Lambie is going to struggle to mount a serious claim to be Morne Steyn’s replacement especially if kicking is going to be the prime way of accumulating points. If we go back and look at his first attempts at the goals in the Currie Cup matches he missed eight of his first attempts during the year. We tend not to remember these kicks because for the rest of the match he was usually magnificent and scored enough points to keep his reputation intact.

With PDV’s doggedness that the Springboks will not change their way of playing rugby, I believe Lambie could grow increasingly frustrated in having to conform to a more conservative game plan unless he is able to work on his kicking skills and improve. There is no doubt that as his career and experience further he will iron these things out.

Not forgetting that PDV would have enjoyed selecting Butch James for the EOYT if he was not injured, all of a sudden Lambie is standing in a queue of players who will challenge for the No.10 jersey in the 2011 World Cup. Elton Jantjies cannot hold a candle to Lambie in overall skills but he is the better kicker and so is Butch James.

The potential dilemma will increase as the season starts next year because The Sharks will continue to play attacking rugby in 2011, Lambie will be back at flyhalf playing to his strengths and as we did this year, we will marvel at his incredible skills. He will have to be picked to go to the World Cup yet what a tragedy if he is then used as centre or fullback where is full potential might not be seen.

One hopes that Lambie will not become Springbok rugby’s latest conundrum and he will be used to demonstrate his ability without limits. The match against the Barbarians where running rugby is the order of the day, could be just what he has been waiting for to show the world why he has such a reputation.