There is no greater honour for rugby players in South Africa than to wear the green and gold of the Springboks in a Test match.

For Steval Pumas Faf de Klerk and Vincent Koch, who are in the Springbok squad, the next seven weeks will be a physical, mental and emotional roller-coaster ride.

Coach Heyneke Meyer believes they have what it takes, but will they get time on the field to prove him right?

A long-term injury to Cobus Reinach and the recent news that Fourie du Preez injured a knee ligament in a warm-up at his Japanese club last week, have played in De Klerk’s favour. With three scrum halves in the squad it is almost certain that Ruan Pienaar will be the incumbent for the friendly against the World XV (Newlands, July 11), the Rugby Championship matches against Australia (Suncorp Stadium July 18), New Zealand (Emirates Airlines Park, July 25) and Argentina (Growthpoint King’s Park, August 8), and the Test match against Argentina (Buenos Aires, August 15).

It is likely that De Klerk will get the nod to warm the bench, with Rudy Paige watching from the stands.  Although both were part of the recent extended Bok training camps, De Klerk is the more experienced of the two. Paige was a stand-out player in a dismal Vodacom Bulls this Super season. He also has represented South Africa at u/20 level. De Klerk’s consistent form in Super matches both home and away, will count to his advantage.

Three scrum halves should go to the World Cup. If fit, Fourie du Preez and Cobus Reinach, and one more. It is unlikely Francois Hougaard will be that one. Whoever Meyer has in mind should get a fair amount of game time over the next month and a half.

Vincent Koch had been brilliant at tight head for the Stormers this Super season. Loaned from the Steval Pumas as a relative unknown, he soon gained praise in the media and adoration from the fans for his performances in the starting jersey and off the bench.

It would make sense for Meyer to choose Koch on the bench for the World XV game to see how he performs at international level. With the 62-cap experienced Jannie du Plessis and Frans Malherbe with three, the favoured tight heads, and Bushbuckridge-born Trevor Nyakane (13) and Marcel van der Merwe (five) being able to go down on either side of the front row, Koch is the junior in the squad.

But do not be surprised if he gets a chance off the bench in a Test match. Koch and Stormers teammate Steven Kitchoff are a powerful combination. Should Meyer want to know if they are capable of propping up what he wants to be the best scrum in the world, there is no better test than against Argentina’s famed “badeja”. The fact that hooker, Scarra Ntubeni, who with Koch and Kitchoff played a vital role in ensuring that the Stormers scrum was the best in Super Rugby 2015, is also in the squad, counts in all three’s favour of being given a chance to play as a unit for the Springboks.