Cape Town - It is said that time is a great healer, but in Heyneke Meyer's case it will also be a great revealer.
The Springbok coach has decided to delay his team announcement by seven hours on Wednesday as he needs more time to resolve the all-important matter of who will wear the captain's armband in Saturday's RWC clash against Pool B pace-setters Scotland at St James' Park, Newcastle.
Instead of an 11am (SA time) announcement, Meyer will now name his matchday-23 at 6pm (UK time) on Wednesday evening.
At the heart of the delay is a plethora of injuries which have a direct bearing on the captaincy appointment.
Victor Matfield is the obvious choice to replace the injured Jean de Villiers as the captain at world rugby's showpiece, but the 38-year-old lock has a hamstring strain which he suffered in the second half against Samoa last weekend.
As a result of the lengthy injury list, the Springboks forfeited Monday's training session as several players were nursing an assortment of niggles. Matfield will have to prove his fitness at Tuesday's and Wednesday's training before the Springboks' medical staff make a call on his availability.
Of course, there is also the possibility that Matfield will be named in the match-day squad if there still remains doubt about his condition because a later call can be made ahead of Saturday's kick-off. Apart from his on-field experience, Matfield also runs the lineouts very efficiently and his absence would be felt most severely at this set-piece.
Behind Matfield, Schalk Burger looms up as the next choice. He led the Boks recently in the absence of De Villiers and Matfield, but he does not shape up as an obvious selection this week as Meyer is likely to field Willem Alberts in the loose trio.
The blindside flanker Alberts is in dire need of game time, but he too is a doubtful starter as he has been nursing a calf strain which has kept him on the sidelines since the Captain's Run ahead of the recent Japan encounter.
Should Alberts step up, Burger's likely omission and possibly that of Matfield, the captaincy role will fall on the broad shoulders of eighthman Duane Vermeulen.
Hooker Adriaan Strauss is also captaincy material, but he's likely to make way for Bismarck du Plessis as a matter of rotation. In De Villiers' absence, Meyer would have had all the selection answers on his fingertips but with fitness doubts hanging over Matfield, the picture could change drastically and he now finds himself in a position where is forced to give his charges more time to recover before he decides who will run out against the hitherto unbeaten Scotland. - ANA