Interesting preview again. Agree with most of your selection, but there are a few in particular that I disagree with:
12 Wynand Olivier (Bulls): He wouldn't be near my RWC if I was a South African selector, let alone the starting XV! He always struggles at test level; whenever he gets the ball in his hands (which is not that often, as the ball has to get past du Preez and Morne Steyn...) he doesn't even think about passing it, but always crashes the ball up, and he doesn't even do this effectively. His defense is ok, but hardly outstanding. I'd start de Villiers and Fourie in the centres (who are a would class combination in my opinion), with de Jongh the primary backup if either was unavailable. I wouldn't take a 4th specialist midfield back in my squad, with the likes of Lambie and Francois Steyn more than capable of playing in the 12 jersey.
10 Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, Ireland),
21 Elton Janjies (Lions): To be honest Pienaar may be a better option than Morne Steyn, but I don't think he is the best 10 in South Africa. There is probably no standout 10 in South Africa, but personally I would start Pat Lambie there. He may not be quite ready for test rugby yet, but he is probably the best option in my opinion. I would also consider Peter Grant at 10; his major flaw is that he lacks distance in his punting, but if South Africa have Francois Steyn at fullback he could take a lot of pressure off Grant by taking the clearing kicks. Jantjies looks talented, but I still think he has a long way to go before he is ready for test level - indeed he still struggles a lot at Super Rugby level. Not only is his goal-kicking poor, but he weak on defence, he struggles to control the game, and seems to make a lot of basic errors. He certainly seems to have the talent to make the Boks in future, but I think he still a few years away from realising his potential.
27 Ashley Johnson (Cheetahs): He is probably one of the worst defensive loose-forward in the world - he almost lead the entire Super Rugby competition in missed tackles! I really don't understand what people see in him - he does run very hard, but he runs straight at opposition players. While it does look spectacular, he seldom breaks the line, and he doesn't give himself the oppurtunity to offload the ball. Obviously the South African coaches rate him, and I'd assume that they know a lot more about rugby than me (well some of the coaches at least...), so perhaps I'm missing something.
3 CJ van der Linde (Stormers), 1 Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), 17 Gurthro Steenkamp (Bulls), 24 Jannie du Plessis (Sharks): I really have no idea who South Africa's best tighthead prop is, but I don't particularly rate van der Linde at all; he just seems to struggle at scrum time to me. I'd prefer Jannie du Plessis, or even better BJ Botha or Brian Mujati. I'd also have Steenkamp starting at loose-head, as I thought he was he best loosehead prop in last years Tri-nations. However I thought Mtawarira had a very impressive match vs Australia last week, so there will be pressure on Steenkamp (who has just returned from injury) to perform this week vs the AB's.
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