Ard Matthews might disagree at this very moment, but thank goodness he made his ill-fated appearance at the announcement of the Springboks' World Cup squad.

Were it not for the poor blighter mangling the national anthem, the announcement of a Bok team attempting to become the first ever side to successfully defend the Webb Ellis Trophy might well have passed without comment.

Not only were the 30 names easy to predict, there was also little to quibble about in terms of who made it and who didn't.

That the inclusion of Johann Muller, Francois Louw and Odwa Ndungane - all blasts from the past - was considered the nearest thing to left-field thinking tells a story of its own.

Strangely, though, naming the 22 to do duty against Wales in the opening World Cup game was as hard as it was easy to predict the general squad.

Three positions are debatable in the starting line-up: hooker, blindside flank and fullback.

The hooker debate is easier to settle than most think. If you pick John Smit as your team captain, that automatically means he is in your 22.

If he is in your 22, he has to start because he lacks the explosiveness that makes Bismarck du Plessis a better impact player than him. Smit has said it before - captaining a team from the bench is harder than it looks.

That's the simplest way to look at it and no amount of channelling Mario Balotelli on Du Plessis' part (when substituted) will change that.

In an attempt to cover for the injured Juan Smith, the Boks have gone for the raw power of Willem Alberts and Louw's hybrid skills set, which make him a blindside flanker with the technique to do a more than adequate job as an openside flanker.

The answer to the question of which of the above players should take Smith's place in the starting line-up is neither; Schalk Burger should.

Burger - who carries the ball more than any other fetcher and can pass when the mood takes him - is closest to Smith when it comes to hardness and lineout ability.

Alberts should continue his Bok career where he started it, coming off the bench to bust through the feeble tackles of tiring opponents.

Fullback is supposed to be earmarked for Frans Steyn, but other than the howitzer boot, the rather chunky utility back does not offer the team anything Pat Lambie, Zane Kirchner, Conrad Jantjes and even Louis Ludik don't.

South Africa is the only country playing modern rugby whose fullback is still seen in a defensive light. Other countries employ the electric skills of Mils Muliaina, Israel Dagg, Kurtley Beale or Ben Foden to run the ball back.

The Boks' only answer to those players in the position is wee Gio Aplon, because Lambie - regardless of his uncanny ability to do the right thing at the right time and correctly - lacks the out and out pace to make him a threat from fullback.

On the bench, du Plessis, CJ van der Linde, Danie Rossouw, Alberts and Francois Hougaard pick themselves. The two contentious decisions are who will cover flyhalf and centre.

The way the Boks play makes Morne Steyn the No1 flyhalf, which means Butch James and Lambie should fight it out to replace the Bulls man. Given his ability to play fullback, Lambie should edge that.

While both Lambie and James can cover inside centre, there is no real cover for outside centre. This would mean Juan de Jongh must get a look-in for the last place on the bench.