South African rugby finds itself in a crisis. The Springboks appear over coached, with the structures owned by the coaching group and not the players. Coach Heyneke Meyer also seems to have fallen into the trap of being manipulated by the senior players.
At this stage, Meyer might as well let them take over because some of those players will now be saying enough is enough, having suffered five losses in their last six Test matches.
The 47-year-old mentor is in a difficult position, and the pressure of coaching his country clearly got to him a long time before South Africa's egregious defeat to Japan in Brighton.
Meyer needs to start trusting the talent he selected, get smarter tactically and stop talking about hope, blood brothers and a special group of players. He needs to be clearly present.
Losing to Japan was a huge mental blow for the Springboks and Meyer needs to help his players recover from that as quickly as possible. I believe he can do that by telling them to stop focusing on the outcome and the scoreboard, which only serves to put them under pressure.
Richie McCaw has said the All Blacks don't worry about the scoreboard. The New Zealanders concern themselves with being in the now and are entirely process driven.
There are also three tactical changes the Springboks must make before their match against Samoa at Villa Park on Saturday if they want to bounce back from their shock defeat to Japan.
Firstly, the Springboks need to sort out their first-phase defence. Can that be trained or does it require different player selections? While Meyer has made a raft of changes, I firmly believe first-phase defence is an aspect of the game which can be trained.
Secondly, Meyer's men need to improve their kicking. Their kicking strategy is more kick and hope than a specific plan for restarts, contestable kicks and the length of their kicking.
The contestable kick late in the game against Japan when JP Pietersen secured possession is a case in point. The Boks then immediately gave the ball back to Japan through a poor kick from Fourie du Preez. That allows the opposition to control the match.
Thirdly, I believe the Springboks need to quicken up their game against Samoa, as it was too stop, start against Japan. That's why the minnows can live with them.
The tempo and intensity of the match between New Zealand and Argentina, and the long periods of transitional football we saw, was extremely high compared to the South Africa-Japan match.
While Meyer must select players who can speed up their play, to change the base game plan at this stage would be suicidal. All that would do is create confusion among the playing group.
Meyer is simply going to have to get the team to play traditional South African rugby, which means picking big, physical players who can carry the team over the advantage line.
Fortunately for Meyer, Duane Vermeulen has been declared fit for the match against Samoa and will start at No.8. In the second row, I would bring Eben Etzebeth in for Victor Matfield, but Meyer has opted to start them both.
The positions of scrum-half and fly-half remain a deep-seated issue for the Springboks. Ruan Pienaar simply doesn't pose a running threat and, at the moment, Pat Lambie seems to lack confidence. As such, neither player ends up proving a genuine running threat on attack.
I would have opted for Du Preez and Handré Pollard to replace the misfiring half-back combination, and that is exactly what Meyer has done.
Meanwhile, captain Jean de Villiers is clearly not match fit yet, and perhaps Meyer has selected him for exactly that reason -- to gain match fitness.
Meyer has also chosen Willie le Roux at full-back ahead of Zane Kirchner. The former's footwork and acceleration will prove a valuable asset against a Samoan defence that will be direct and physical. You'd rather go around the Samoans than straight at them.
However, the Boks need to create some continuity and cohesion among the players. At the moment, the Bok culture and climate doesn't seem conducive to improving player performance and connectedness.
From the outside looking in, the players appear to be totally disengaged and seem to be in two minds. They need to be given clear instructions from the coaching team.