I’ve long been a fan of magic. One of the great devices of sleight of hand is diversion, where the conjurer enchants his audience while doing something critical away from the action.

A similar fate has befallen South African rugby, distracted by the messy controversy over transformation in recent days. It’s a hardy annual that never goes away, more particularly at World Cup time.

This isn’t to diminish the cause, but there are also practical issues to think about.

Like, what are we to do with Jean de Villiers? And why is SA Rugby ordering industrial quantities of cotton wool to keep Fourie du Preez wrapped in?

The fallout from the Argentina fiasco and the row over quotas has taken our eye off the ball, but from a playing point of view, De Villiers and Du Preez are two vital points of discussion.

De Villiers is a rugby grandee. The Bok captain has become a statesman of the game; assured, confident, regal even. His storyline is remarkable, from schoolboy prodigy to miracle man. Lesser men would have packed up years ago. To see him trotting onto the Durban turf last week was a feel-good moment for all of us who have witnessed his agonies.

But fate is a fickle mistress and of course she chose to revisit De Villiers. Amid the calamity of King’s Park, his jaw was fractured and the team doctor ruled him out for six weeks.

Had De Villiers been involved in the earlier pair of Rugby Championship matches, when the Boks lost their heads in the final quarter against Australia and New Zealand, his leadership might have swung things. It’s why Heyneke Meyer is loath to give him the bullet, even as the dark clouds move in.

Many fans are saying De Villiers has had his day and that Meyer mustn’t follow the same path as his predecessor, who hung onto John Smit for similar reasons. Their argument is helped by the fact that the midfield pairing of Damien De Allende and Jesse Kriel has been spectacular. They overshadowed the world’s best midfield (Nonu and Smith) just a few weeks ago.

As De Villiers won’t be fit come World Cup time, the answer seems obvious: sentiment be damned and show him the door. A more elegant solution, though, would be to include him as non-playing captain. Have him along as the team totem, the man to inspire the squad and boost the youngsters. Playing him in a knockout game would be too risky.

Fourie du Preez is another worry. There have been more sightings of the Scarlet Pimpernel than SA’s number one scrumhalf. He played in Japan until February, and then opted out of Super Rugby entirely before banging his knee in a game for Suntory Sungoliath in June.

He’s conscientious about rehabilitation and fitness, working hard on his own, but my grandmother has played more rugby this year. The plan, apparently, is for him to get fit at the World Cup. As risks go, that’s like ramping over the Grand Canyon and hoping not to end up in a bloody heap at the bottom.

To put the value of Du Preez to the Bok cause into context, there has never been a greater single performance in Springbok history than what he conjured up in Paris against England in a group game at the World Cup in 2007. He played England like a violin.

But 2007 was a long time ago and Du Preez is no longer the same player. He’s a rugby genius who has plotted his own trajectory, but we’ve invested an enormous amount of trust in hoping he will roar back to his best when the World Cup swings around.

Had De Villiers or Du Preez been the only problem areas to worry about, things would probably be fine. But there are holes everywhere. The Boks are still unsure about who their right wing is; Victor Matfield’s role remains iffy; the backrow alchemy isn’t there; Pat Lambie isn’t utilised nearly enough. And so it goes.

From the relative hope of six weeks ago to these worrying times, who would want to be in Heyneke Meyer’s shoes?

Pass the magic wand. – @ Sunday Tribune