In the wreckage that is their Tri-Nations misadventure Down Under, the Springbok brains trust will find some home truths that will greatly influence the remainder of their term in office.

Apart from handing the Wallabies and the All Blacks momentum, the Springboks now also run the risk of being exposed on home soil which will further fuel their Sanzar partners' furnace heading into the World Cup.

Of course, the Bok selectors can call for the cavalry in the form of the Rustenburg 21 for the home Tests but if the point was not underlined sufficiently in Super Rugby, it was drummed home in the last two matches that the Springboks antiquated game plan needs renewal.

It may smack of gross over-simplification but their tactics of kicking, chasing, swarming the ball carrier and forcing a penalty from 2007 look outdated against sides who invest in ball retention and systematic dismantling of defences.

Retaining possession is one thing, breaking down defences is quite another and in the latter Australia and New Zealand have stolen a march on the Boks.

Some will point to the talent and experience in the Rustenburg 21 as potential saviours of the local game but what really matters is to what extent, while they were hiding behind fences, has Rassie Erasmus been able to teach new tricks to old dogs?

Springbok success has been set on a simple template in recent years. Lineout superiority, sound tactical kicking and suffocating defence are all fine but the game has moved on and now the ball carrier and not his pursuer is more likely to fall on the right side of the referee.

To a degree, the Boks already took the first few bold steps in Wellington yesterday. Pat Lambie's performance at flyhalf confirmed what many had suspected. Not bestowed with only sure hands, feet and an uncluttered mind but also a sound temperament, the kind the Springboks cannot get enough of over the next few months and years.

He brings to the Springboks' attack the cutting edge they have lacked with Morne Steyn at first receiver but whether the brains trust has the courage to jettison a player who has scored 330 points in 27 Tests is another matter. For Steyn to be a match winner the Springboks must consistently put themselves into the right position but are unlikely to do so given their propensity to hoof away possession.

Lambie's range of influence on the game extends well beyond an ability to boot the ball to a desired target and De Villiers and Co may be forced into an invidious decision on Steyn.

Last week De Villiers certainly gave the impression that he is still window shopping for the perfect 10.

"Some tough decisions will have to be made before the World Cup and for him (Steyn), as for any of the players on the park on yesterday, it might be a last chance or the only chance, so we hope he can rediscover the form that made him so invincible in 2009," he said.

De Villiers looks set to unleash the star of the 2007 World Cup, Butch James, against the Wallabies in Durban next month.

Like Lambie, James operates closer to the gain line and from there the Springboks have to kick-start their 2011 challenge. A strong performance from James may be the death knell for Steyn's World Cup hopes but it may also breathe new life into a Springbok cause that at the moment looks decidedly jaded.