Jake White believes the Springboks have the players to be able to deal with whatever style of play of the Lions choose to employ later this summer.
White, who coached South Africa to World Cup glory in 2007, believes his successor Peter de Villiers has more than enough options open to him regardless of whether the Lions attempt to take the Boks on physically or look to spread the ball wide at every opportunity.
"I’m not meaning to sound arrogant, and this is not all about me saying the Lions have got no chance, but whatever they throw at the Springboks I believe they can pick the players to counter that," explained White.
"There is no reason the Springboks can’t win the series."
The Boks are rightly renowned for their love of a physical battle yet they have also developed a fresh, expansive approach which came to the fore in last year’s thumping wins over Australia and England in Johannesburg and Twickenham respectively.
Speculation as to which game plan Ian McGeechan’s tourists will themselves favour in the three-match series in late June and early July continues to provide a popular talking point in Britain and Ireland, but White is convinced it will make little difference to the overall result.
"If the Lions go for a massive pack and very physical forwards, there’s no reason South Africa can’t pick bigger and more physical guys," added White.
"We have players like Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Gurthro Steenkamp and Danie Rossouw to stop them.
"If they go for speed and try to run us off our feet on the highveld, do they have anyone better than Pierre Spies, Ryan Kankowski or Schalk Burger?"
