Beating the likes of an Irish side amidst a crisis, an underperforming England, a pitiful Scotland, a proud, but ultimately lacking Italy and an experimental France cannot be compared to the Springboks at home.

There is little reason to discuss a Springbok squad that is not the final deal ? names like Isma-eel Dollie, Hilton Lobberts and Luke Watson should not raise any eyebrows until they actually make the final cut, but on the basis of this year's Super 14, it seems South African rugby is in a pretty good state.

The Sharks may have endured a mid-season wobble, but they are still headed to the semifinals on the back of their best performance of the season. The Bulls in their last four matches showed that there is still plenty of gees left in Pretoria. The Lions gave glimpses of what they are capable of ? although talk of a turnaround is still a bit of a leap for me! The Cheetahs will continue to struggle until they secure some depth, while the Stormers have emerged as one of the teams of the season ? across the Super 14.

But regardless of the results, it is clear that South Africa has heaps of talent across the park and Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is spoilt for choice as he prepares for the Test series against Wales.

De Villiers is likely to start with the bulk of the World Cup-winning team ? barring injuries and a drastic loss of form ? but outside of that group there are a host of players lining up to break into the Test 22.

Some have already been there ? Conrad Jantjes, Ryan Kankowski, Tonderaai Chavhanga, Luke Watson, Peter Grant, Gcobani Bobo, Meyer Bosman and others spring to mind ? while a number of others have emerged from across the country to show they are capable of mixing it up with the best players in the world.

Rory Kockott, Adriaan Fondse, Duane Vermeulen, Heinrich Brussouw and many more have set the fields alight this year, despite results not always favouring their respective teams.

What is clear is that the Springboks now have a solid mixture of experience and youth to choose from, and regardless of the noises coming out of Wales following their Six Nations triumph I simply cannot see them even competing with the Boks in June. The standard of rugby was poor in this year?s Six Nations and the Welsh have endured one false dawn after another in recent times. Beating the likes of an Irish side amidst a crisis, an underperforming England, a pitiful Scotland, a proud, but ultimately lacking Italy and an experimental France cannot be compared to the Springboks at home.

Even without Bok lynchpins Schalk Burger and Fourie du Preez, Wales simply do not have the team capable of doing the business in June.

South African rugby is preparing to ride the crest of the waves and De Villiers, despite a number of silly comments in the media of late, seems to be making the right noises when it comes to selections ? building on the platform created by his predecessor, while adding his own influence at the same time.

If I was to play selector my team would look like the one below, and I cannot see many teams having their measure?

My Springbok team: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Tonderaai Chavhanga, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 John Smit, 1 Guthro Steenkamp. Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Pierre Spies, 20 Enrico Januarie, 21 Frans Steyn, 22 Peter Grant.

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