The news of Frans Steyn’s sudden and controversial withdrawal from the squad has added to the headaches for the coach, who has had to cope with several major absentees, particularly in the centre position.
Captain Jean de Villiers, Jacque Fourie and Damian de Allende have all been ruled out by injury, Juan de Jongh has a chest infection, while Steyn is another centre candidate to fall by the wayside.
“It has been the toughest 10 days in the job for me so far,” said Meyer.
“We have lost five quality centres and most of them were experienced players. Damian de Allende hadn’t played yet, but the others were all experienced and some of them were world class.
“We do have good replacements, but it is disruptive when several of the players in the same position are all out at once.”
Jan Serfontein looks set to partner JP Pietersen, who himself is new to the centre position though he does boast plenty of international experience.
“There isn’t a lot of time so it is a bit disruptive and I would have preferred to play a settled team against the Welsh in this first game,” admitted Meyer. “Jan and JP haven’t played together before.”
