LONG READ Five key questions the Springboks urgently need to answer

Mission accomplished. It had been 15 years since the Springboks last won a Rugby  Championship that wasn’t truncated as a result of a looming World Cup. This meant that a caveat was always attached to Siya Kolisi’s charges. Sure they’d claimed back-to-back Webb Ellis Cups and a British & Irish Lions series, but without the southern hemisphere’s most glittering prize any claims on a dynasty would always have a rebuttal. Now no one can dispute this group’s greatness.

But even all-conquering empires cannot stay stagnant. Those who become complacent are swiftly surpassed by hungry competitors. Rassie Erasmus knows this better than anyone and he has already implemented minor tweaks and sweeping changes to a squad that has designs on future glories. And if the Springboks are to surpass Richie McCaw’s All Blacks as the undisputed kings of rugby, there are key areas that need attention.

Who will replace the ageing Mbonambi and Marx double-act?

Erasmus’s decision to replace the injured Malcolm Marx with Handre Pollard at last year’s World Cup now looks like a masterstroke. Pollard kicked South Africa to glory across three knock-out games and Deon Fourie, a loose forward by trade, deputised at hooker and more than handled himself in the front row.

But it could so easily have backfired. Had South Africa not won the World Cup, the lack of depth at hooker would have been cited as a primary reason for an unsuccessful campaign.

Erasmus won’t want to risk such an eventuality playing out again. But he faces a similar dilemma. This year, across 10 Tests, Marx has twice started and come off the bench on seven occasions. Bongi Mbonambi has started six games and once been a member of the bomb squad. Only once, in the game against Portugal, did neither feature.

Three rookies have been trialled and should be afforded opportunities in the end of year tour. Johan Grobbelaar, the 26-year-old from the Bulls, seems to be first in line. He started against Portugal and again against Australia in Perth. Fighting for a spot are Andre-Hugo Venter from the Stormers and Jan-Hendrik Wessels from the Bulls. Both are 23 with less than four years’ experience as professionals, but both have impressed and require more game-time against tier-one opponents.

Do the Boks need to evolve at 12 to incorporate Tony Brown’s attacking ethos?

In an admittedly shallow pool, Damian de Allende has emerged as the world’s leading 12 over the last four years. He bursts beyond the gainline with just about every carry and alongside Jesse Kriel has formed one of the game’s most indomitable midfields on defence.

However, under the new attack orchestrated by Tony Brown, his minor shortcomings have been amplified. De Allende is close to the complete rugby player but even his biggest supporters would have to concede that his distribution game is not elite. This is a worry when the ball has to fizz down the line and to wide men as quickly as possible.

This is why Lukhanyo Am has been deployed at inside centre. Possibly the most naturally gifted baller South Africa’s midfield has seen in the professional era, Am’s ability to spark magic from thin air is unrivalled. But he lacks the punch required to bust through narrow tacklers.

Erasmus has a dilemma. In de Allende and Andre Esterhuizen he possesses two destructive battering rams. In Am he has a playmaker from the top drawer. None of them tick every box. Pollard is a potential chimera that stands between two worlds, but does he have enough in either department to occupy the position from the opening whistle? Erasmus is a problem solver par excellence and he has much to ponder.

Is there a simple solution to find a playmaker and dead-eye kicker?

That previous question needs an answer because when it comes to goal-kicking, Pollard is peerless in South Africa. However, when compared to Manie Libbok and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – not to mention the developing Jordan Hendrikse – Pollard’s more conservative approach looks antiquated by comparison.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s injury, which has ruled him out of the November Tests, provides an ideal opportunity to experiment with this ploy. Libbok could continue to start at 10 with Pollard coming off the bench in the guise of a ‘break-glass-in-case-of-emergency’ player. Whether or not that’s at inside centre or as a fly-half replacement is almost immaterial. He simply has to be included in every match-day 23 that matters.

Alternatively Erasmus could shine a lens on Hendrikse or the impressive Suya Msuku, who has performed wonders at the Sharks and helped guide them through the final stages of their ultimately successful European Challenge Cup.

All of this depends on whether or not Erasmus believes there is room for three genuine fly-halves in his 23. It is certainly possible thanks to a plethora of versatile players in the group.

Who will replace the iconic Willie le Roux in the back three?

Once Damian Willemse returns to full match sharpness he should return to the 23 and will likely slot back in as the starting full-back. His ability at first receiver, as well as his composure on the ball, means he could do a job at fly-half or in the midfield. Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Hendrikse are similarly versatile.

Aphelele Fassi does not have as many tricks in his bag but of all the contenders he is the only bonafide full-back and is probably the most assured under the high ball. Against Argentina over the weekend he produced by far his best game for the Springboks where he plucked pills from the skies, kicked out of hand with assurance and joined the line with scything support runs that caused havoc throughout the game.

But is he too one-dimensional for a team that is now stacked with Swiss-Army knives? With Willemse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu able to operate at 10, 12 and 15, and with Canan Moodie equally adept across the back three and at 13, Fassi might find himself sidelined through no fault of his own.

This would also be tough on a player who has demonstrably improved on his shortcomings but restricted in the sense that he is a specialist in his position. Then again, if Erasmus picks his next squad on form he has to play Fassi. How the Springboks coach squeezes seven or eight talented backs into just three or four spaces could be his toughest challenge yet.

Is it time to replace Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach at 9?

On Saturday against Argentina, after Jaden Hendrikse slotted a tough conversion near the touchline, he seemed to answer several questions at once. Here was a way to get Manie Libbok – the most creative 10 in South Africa’s history – into the starting XV without the added pressure of adding extras off the tee. Here was a way to potentially stack the bench with six forwards without having to shoe-horn an extra back. Here was a relief to the gnawing doubts about the reserve scrum-halves coming through the challenge Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach.

But then Hendrikse lost his radar and suddenly those questions lingered once more. The most pertinent one, though, concerns his primary function as the distributor at the base of the ruck.

Did Hendrikse do enough to establish himself as the next cab off the rank? He wasn’t poor by any means, and was aided by consistent front-boot ball. But he didn’t exactly set the place on fire despite some impressive contributions, including a broad repertoire of box-kicks.

Come the next World Cup de Klerk will be 33 and Reinach will be 36 which means one or both could be past their best for the title defence in Australia. Hendrikse and Grant Williams – fitness permitting – need as many minutes in Europe as they can get.