'Honesty is the best policy, Mr White'
Spoilt for choice is supposed to be a coach's dream. However, it can also make things dreadfully difficult for the poor man, too. More than anything else it presents a huge challenge to his honesty.
This is the dilemma staring Springbok coach Jake White squarely in the face.
His big moment, the so-called Grand Slam tour (if the Boks can beat the Four Home Nations on the trot), is around the corner.
The Currie Cup final is only a month away, and soon White and the national selectors will have to sit down and make some very difficult choices.
They must first decide what shape the Springbok team will take - how many players will be needed for such an arduous Test-match tour. Remember, in addition to the Four Home Unions there's also Argentina to consider. Then equally important, White must decide on the best deployment of talent at his disposal.
One feels sure that White, even if he manages to avoid reading press reports, must be heartily sick of being told his captain John Smit isn't the country's best hooker. Frankly, when you mop up the emotion surrounding the issue, it's probably a very close call as to whether Gary Botha is truly a better player than the Springbok skipper. Each of them has special qualities that have brought them to the top of the heap.
However, what is certain is that Smit, who enjoys a special rapport among the players, is indisputably the best available captain.
There is also the Lions youngster Schalk Britz to consider, though at this stage, he is probably a season off the pace. But his turn will undoubtedly come.
How many hookers can White take on tour is question number one. Number two is: can the rugby public take on trust the assurances from both White and Sarfu president Brian van Rooyen, that the quota system is a thing of the past?
Transformation is a word the rugby hierarchy have been juggling with for some time, and as a process, at times it seems to defy exact definition. Indeed, it would not be unfair to say it means many different things, depending on the circumstances.
Whatever spin it's given, however, it has to be admitted that solid servant though he may be, Hanyani Shimange is not the country's second-best hooker. Unless White wants to stand accused of favouritism or a bias against a very fine player, he must somehow make a plan to include Gary Botha in his overseas squad.
Indeed, it's something of a Botha/Bulls migraine that must have White regularly calling his pharmacy these days for those well-known senior person's headache powders!
This reference, of course, is to the Bulls' other Botha of renown - namely centre, Ettienne - whose consistent delivery of high-class performances has been a highlight of this year's Currie Cup.
Yes, the best of centres generally come in pairs. Remember how Danie Craven chose Tjol Lategan and Ryk van Schoor as his midfield without hesitation, even though Lategan was sometimes left out of the Western Province team by the provincial selectors?
De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert - a solid pairing forged in the heat of Test match battle - are White's current choice for the Boks. This year, in a series of internationals leading up to the Springboks' Tri-Nations triumph, the pair played a significant role.
But Ettienne Botha - strong and robust, with plenty of flair besides - and the Lions' Brian Habana, whom White has already identified as a diamond in the rough, could develop into an equally effective combination.
Another who deserves the special attention of the Bok coach is Lions scrumhalf Enrico Januarie.
Though inclined to selfishness at times, he has the hallmarks of a class scrumhalf and deserves encouragement for a consistent season of high performance.
There's still the "player without a province", Luke Watson, and flyhalf Andre Pretorius, if fit, who deserve serious consideration. Several others, too, merit closer inspection.
Until now, White has proved an innovative coach with vision, unafraid to back his own instincts. Now he stands before his most demanding test.
It is one that, with the extension this week of his contract until after the 2007 World Cup, will define his role in the modern development of this country's rugby.