Can Boks change direction?

After a sobering Rugby Championship defeat to the All Blacks in Christchurch, the wounded Springboks have had a fortnight to refocus ahead of their penultimate home Test of the year against the Wallabies in Pretoria.

Springboks coach Allister Coetzee would have used the brief hiatus from the competition to assess his playing personnel and style of play.

While South Africa's set-piece has functioned effectively and they have attacked well on occasion, Coetzee is under no illusion that his team most needs to improve its tactical kicking prowess.

A fundamental reason the Springboks have already lost four Tests this term is because they have come off second-best each time as far as the territorial battle is concerned. Halfbacks Faf de Klerk and Elton Jantjies boast a neat box of attacking tricks, but it's clear that tactical kicking is not a strength of either player's make-up at this juncture.

For me, Jantjies is the future of South African flyhalf play, owing to the fact that he has mastered the more difficult art of attacking play. However, the 26-year-old Lions pivot, who starred during Super rugby on an offensive front, needs to hone his tactical awareness if he is to enjoy a lengthy Test career. Test rugby is definitely not Super rugby. As such there is no way that you can claim to employ the same playing style at Test level.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. However, Coetzee is nobody's fool and is adapting his plan according to his personnel. In terms of the way the team has trained this week, a more pragmatic approach is in the offing for the Pretoria Test.

Former Bulls stalwart Morné Steyn is set to wear the No10 jersey for Saturday's showdown. The main point to remember is that although the 32-year-old is not the long-term solution for the Springboks, experienced players such as Steyn play a crucial role in the short to medium term and can also assist younger colleagues in growing their games.

For argument's sake, if Jantjies were to utilise the 64-Test capped veteran as a mentor on the training field rather than see him as a direct rival for a starting berth, it would prove a brilliant move because there is no one better than Steyn to school him on tactical awareness. If Jantjies takes all of those learnings on board and becomes a more rounded player, there is no reason to suggest that he won't be the Springboks' starting flyhalf on the end-of-year tour.

Although the top-ranked All Blacks have already annexed the fifth edition of the Rugby Championship with two rounds of competition remaining, I maintain that the Springboks still have something to play for in the four-team tournament.

In my book, if Coetzee's charges come back strongly in their final two home fixtures of 2016 and are able to produce noteworthy performances in Pretoria and Durban, it would build confidence among the playing group and coaching staff.

Admittedly, Coetzee has sent some mixed signals in terms of selection and strategy at the infancy of his national coaching tenure. However, for all intents and purposes, the Springbok team now seems to be heading in the right direction.