South Africa coach Peter de Villiers and captain John Smit agreed that the World Cup champions were "back on track", following their 32-10 win over Italy in Udine at the weekend. But a few nagging questions remain.

While both De Villiers and Smit were pleased with the way the Bok scrum bounced back in the final quarter, after Smit moved to hooker and World Cup winner BJ Botha came on at tighthead, it is this tactical switch that may well point the way forward for De Villiers.

He has been desperate to convert Smit into a world class tighthead, in order to extend his career to include the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, but the conversion has gone less than smooth.

While Smith more than held his ground in many of his Test appearances since 2008, there was also enough evidence to suggest that hooker remains his best position.

In the last 20 minutes against the powerful Italian scrum - a front row that includes Bok slayer Martin Castrogiovanni - there were enough pointers that Smit should play at hooker, where he will compete with Sharks teammate Bismarck du Plessis for the Bok No.2 jersey.

And De Villiers admitted that when the Boks tackle Ireland in the final match of their year-end tour in Dublin on Saturday, Smit may well start in the No.2 jersey.

"It's a nice problem to have, knowing that we can change things around," De Villiers told a media gathering after the Italian Test.

"Maybe next week I'll use John [Smit) and Bismarck [du Plessis] as hookers against Ireland."

In fact De Villiers will have a few interesting posers when he considers his front row selection for the Italian Test.

Not only has Du Plessis recovered from his injury, but so has prop CJ van der Linde, while Smit and BJ Botha put down strong markers for starting places against the Irish.

"I will have to make some important decisions in this regard," he said, when quizzed about his front row selections.

The Italian Test will serve another important purpose for the Boks - the need to continue rebuilding their momentum after a poor start to the year-end tour.

The Springboks had lost their previous three matches, including two against English club sides and a 13-20 defeat in Toulouse against France.