International rugby window: Only faces have changed

When Heyneke Meyer announced the final group of players that were going to represent the Boks in this years four-nation Incoming series comprising of  Italy, Scotland, Samoa and of course, the Springboks - many rugby lovers in the country were excited about the new-looking team and rightly so.

Change is good and to see the likes of  Willie le Roux, Jan Serfontein, Arno Botha and Trevor Nyakane included in the Green and Gold set-up, really brought a sense of freshness and great anticipation for the first kick-off of the tournament against Italy in Durban. Also with Jano Vermaak getting in his first Bok start suggested that there'd also be a transformation of style from the Bok game to a running, exciting and intense game plan instead of the slow, conservative and forward-driven game play we've associated the Boks with for as long as I can remember.

After the 44-10 battering of the Italians, Heyneke Meyer's men confirmed the change of style - at least for that game - with a lot of running on display as the Boks scored some beautifully-worked tries and if anything, they left their beloved supporters wanting more from the new-looking starting XV; but more is not what the Boks gave their supporters against Scotland a week later.

The Scottish out-muscled the home nation with some aggressive rucking and powerful scrummaging with their backs looking increasingly dangerous with ball in hand and running at the Boks; the SA 6-10 Scotland scoreline at half time was no fluke - in fact - it was well-deserved. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira has lost his form for some time now: we hardly see those impressive carries and solid scrummaging from him; Juandre Kruger is not the same when he is in the Green and Gold compared to when he's in the blue for the Bulls; Arno Botha has not done much to justify his inclusion; Marcell Coetzee and Pierre Spies were no where to be seen and hence why the game was lost in the forwards. That being said - I guess for that reason, you can't exactly fault the backs because the forwards weren't doing enough to give them clean and quick ball. But that was not always the case.

Now to the backs: Ruan Pienaar was too slow when clearing the ball from the ruck; JJ Engelbrecht and Jan Serfontein to be honest, have not given enough to suggest that they are better picks than Juan De Jongh and Willie le Roux has not done enough - at least yet - to convince that he's the future Springbok to occupy the last line of defence.

As a result - because the Boks were under pressure - they resorted to their old ways in the second half of playing eight-man rugby in a slow and conservative manner and confirmed my fears of just the faces changing in the team and nothing else, in the process.

I truly believe that there are solutions - picking players on merit for one - and a new approach from the coach to adapt to the modern age of running rugby for another. Players like Heinrich Brussow to neutralise the breakdown headaches, Juan De Jongh whose quick feet can unlock any defence, Siya Kolisi whose got great carrying ability and pace, Ryan Kankowski whose never really gotten his chance - and a fully fit Jano Vermaak - just to name a few.

With the usual Bok vulnerabilities exposed again against Scotland and a flattering 30-17 final score - I'm afraid as it stands, there's no new game plan but just a change of faces.