No, I don’t mean tribunals where the rugby public publicly lynch under-performing coaches and players.

What happened to the good old trial match? The simulated test match where the best 60 or so players in the country play against each other over two weeks to prove who is the best, and who is simply not going to cut the mustard…

Off the top of my head –

If I were coach I would pit the following teams against each other, based on what I’ve seen this year.

15	Johan Goosen	15	Jesse Kriel	15	Clayton Blommetjies
14	Bryan Habana	14	Courtnal Skozan	14	Travis Ismael
13	Lionel Mapoe	13	Francois Venter	13	Nico Lee
12	Rohan JVR	12	Andre Estherhuysen	12	Clinton Swart
11	Lwazi Mvovo	11	Sergeal Petersen	11	Jamba Olengo
10	Elton Jantjies	10	Pat Lambie	10	Inny Radebe
9	Faf du Plessis	9	Francois Hougaard	9	Stephan Ungerer
8	Hanro Liebenberg	8	Warren Whitely	8	Philip van der Walt
7	Jean luc Du Preez	7	Oupa Mahoje	7	Jannes Kirsten
6	Francois Louw	6	Jaco Kriel	6	Albertus Smith
5	Eben Etzebeth	5	Lood de Jager	5	Reniel Hugo
4	Franco Mostert	4	Pieter Steph du Tiot	4	Jason Jenkins
3	Vincent Koch	3	Julian Redlinghuys	3	Thomas du Toit
2	Adriaan Strauss	2	Malcolm Marx	2	Acker van der Merwe
1	Beast Mtawarira	1	Steven Kitshoff	1	Corne Fourie
16	Bongi Mbonambi	16	Chiliboy Ralapelle	16	Robbie Coetzee
17	Lourens Adriandse	17	Dylan Smith	17	Ruan Dreyer
18	Ox Nche	18	Trevor Nyakane	18	Lizo Gkboka
19	Stephan Lewies	19	RJ Snyman	19	Ruan Ackerman
20	Paul Schoeman	20	Willem Alberts	20	Roelof Smit
21	Piet van Zyl	21	Jano Vermaak	21	Rudi van Rooyen
22	Morne Steyn	22	Robert du Preez Jr	22	Niel Marais
23	Curwin Bosch	23	Andries Coetzee	23	Anthony Volmink
	Players excluded –
	Francois Steyn		Ruan Combrinck
	Duane Vermuelen		Jan Serfontein
	JP Pietersen		Daniel du Preez
	Willie le Roux		Ruan Pienaar
	Handre Pollard
	Bismarck du Plessis
	Jannie du Plessis
	Coenie Oosthuysen

The coaches would be able to mix and match combinations, see what works and what doesn’t, who is good under pressure and who isn’t. I think that is far more valuable than playing a series against Ireland for example, where you only really get to see one match-day 23 tested.

Now some might say, “But the players could get injured?”

Yes of course, but they could also get injured getting out of the shower or playing badminton or even, heaven forbid, playing Currie Cup… From the teams above it is clear that there is more than enough talent in South Africa to put together more than one competitive team and they even comply with transformation requirements for the most part.

If the players don’t like the idea then they can go home. It should be about survival of the fittest, bravest and most committed. Test match rugby is hard. Nobody ever played a Test Match against New Zealand and said afterwards, “well that was easy”. It is the pinnacle of the sport. It is where legends are made, reputations cemented and pretenders exposed.