John Drake: Straeuli the right man to pull Springboks together

Rudolf Straeuli's Springboks will show more spirit and cohesion than the South African sides we have seen over the past few years.

So far, his team have displayed a split personality. They showed some real quality against Samoa, but also woeful defence.

Straeuli, though, is just the man to whip them into shape. For a start, his reputation says that those who do not follow the Straeuli game-plan get flogged the next time the coach sees them on the training field.

He appears to be the type who will lean heavily on Springbok traditions, get the horses and buggies in a circle, and prepare for battle.

And significantly, he has a vein of young test newcomers in the team who will only know one approach - to pull together for the cause rather than indulge in the splits that have sometimes hurt South African rugby.

The Straeuli attitude can best be seen in his front row selections, with players such as combative hooker James Dalton and prop Willie Meyer, who is hardly the flashy type.

In the backs, though, Straeuli has realised you cannot progress too far without the potential to penetrate and confuse defences, thus the selection of Andre Pretorius at first five-eighths.

It must have been a dead loss for Springbok backs outside players such as Braam van Straaten, but Pretorius is in a different mould.

I expect they will also base a lot of their game around De Wet Barry in the centres if they get quality ball, and are bound to target Andrew Mehrtens in defence.

The really exciting prospect tonight is the mystery that surrounds this South African side, and the Tri-Nations in general.

The three sides are undergoing change that has added life to a competition which was in danger of becoming humdrum.

There have been complaints about the dour nature of the test against Australia, but I thought it was fantastic, as did a few old football mates I've talked to. It was a traditional test scrap.

The Australian attitude afterwards was daunting. Whatever they felt in private, their public face accepted defeat, gave credit to the marginally better side, then they basically said: "See you in Sydney."

There was an air of calm and confidence about them.

Their previous coach, Rod Macqueen, played a boring game, eliminating mistakes and waiting for opposition errors to prey on.

Eddie Jones wants a proactive team, and obviously believes - as I do - that you can't expect to consistently win at this level without genuine attacking options.

That's still my concern about the All Blacks. They deserve all the praise in the world for that marvellous effort in Christchurch.

In Richard McCaw and Chris Jack they have a couple of outstanding forwards, and while I have criticised Justin Marshall in the past, he had a magnificent game.

You suspect that some of the dynamos of the New Zealand game will be starters by World Cup time. Obviously Anton Oliver will be back in the frame. Tana Umaga, Jonah Lomu and maybe Troy Flavell are among those who might figure.

They provide attacking options that the All Blacks can hardly do without.