No rest for Smit
22 May 2006
Springbok coach Jake White does not expect to give his captain, John Smit, much rest during the busy international season this year.
Smit missed the start of the Vodacom Super 14 due to injury and suspension, effectively giving him a welcome two month break from the rigours of rugby.
White told the Volksblad: “I initially considered giving John a break, but first he was suspended and shortly afterwards injured, which kept him sidelined for eight weeks.”
“Thus he has had his breather. Wikus can be a big asset as a No 6 and a No 7 flank, but there’s not a shortcut to becoming captain,” he said.
“I’m not going to change my entire team when I need a captain. I can, for example, also make someone like Os du Randt the captain.”
It is not the first time that White has mentioned Du Randt as a possible captain. He has a knee injury at present and the Bok coach hopes he will recover in time to play against Scotland in Durban on June 10.
26 Comments
22 May 2006, 09:29 am
Well then Jake, don’t ***** and moan when you lose hime midway throught the season…
22 May 2006, 09:34 am
Ok jake, why then say that you will change the team setup if a captain(i.e. Mr knock-on v heerden) is needed, just a short while ago
22 May 2006, 09:45 am
Old Jake loves to contradict himself ..
mmmm .. proberbly scared that any other hooker will outshine JS and then what .. naaaa, stick with your blue eye boy jake, and lets see where that gets you.
22 May 2006, 10:14 am
Paws ur an idiot, Smit has proved everybody wrong. He is like Pienaar, Tiaan Strauss was 100 times a better 8 than him, but Pienaar was a great captain.
22 May 2006, 10:27 am
Leeanthonyw .. I don’t resort to name calling .. but really … Pienaar was No6 flanker not 8th man, so please in the future get your facts right.
And my oppinion of smit is shared by about half of the people on this sight .. and by many more not on this sight .. and incase I need to spell it out to you .. it is MY opinion, we are allowed to have those.
22 May 2006, 10:30 am
I second leeant, paws you are an idiot. think about what you are saying before you post.
Smit is maybe not the best no2, but from a team perspective he is immesurable in binding the different cultures together into a workable unit just like Gary Teich, Francois Pienaar etc were. Look how kak the Boks were under Joost even though he was the best no9 in the country. No JS is not Jake’s blue eyed boy, he is Jakes best captain and his captaincy inspires the other 21 guys to play above themselves. I’d rather have that than have the best no2 thank you very much
22 May 2006, 10:35 am
Yawn yawn . such a good captain … whatever … no matter how good a captain you are .. if you have the wrong team on the field with you, you stuffed.
22 May 2006, 10:40 am
We almost took the cup under joost… if it wasn’t for the drop from larkham we would have been world champs in 99
22 May 2006, 10:43 am
… and by the way … I’m not convinced about JS being such a good capt anyway …
22 May 2006, 10:49 am
I’d love to see it that way Zama ,but I think Oz beat us by 6 points in the end ,not 3….there was another penalty.So its a bit far fetched. And Larkham and he refs didnt cheat. he got that drop over….finished and klaar. Its tough ,but they did win.
I do agree that had we won,the fRench were ripe for the picking in the final.
22 May 2006, 11:24 am
Paws , JS leaves us with another not the the best in SA PLAYER
22 May 2006, 12:13 pm
We should have more options for Capt.
NZ’s got
Macaw
Thorne
Soialo
Aus’s got
Mortlock
Gregan
Sharp
22 May 2006, 12:49 pm
Paws, who would be your bok captain then?
Speak to any bok (or shark for that matter) who has played under Smit and they will tell you he gets 20-30% more out of his players than any other captain and yes I have spoken to some of them and heard them at talks. Never underestimate the value a captain has to a team’s performance.
22 May 2006, 13:00 pm
mmmmm .. have you ever considered that it is not ever wise to critisise the capt that you playing under, especially if he is so tight in with the coach, because pretty soon you’ll be out of favour and no longer playing ..
secondly .. I would have thought that the fact that you were wearing the springbok jearsy was more than enogh reason to be playing 20-30% better .. if this is not the case, and somebody needs to encourage you, you sould not be there.
Chose the best player in each possition and from there a captain will emerge .. Jaun Smit perhapse will put his hand up, or maybe somebody else.
hahaha .. perhapse JS sould chat more to himself and get another 50% improvement in his own game.
22 May 2006, 16:29 pm
I grow weary of all the moaning bout Jake White & John Smit. Have the moaners been asleep for the last two years? Or maybe gave up watching rugby for these years following the diabiolical records of the coaches and captains we had preceeding this duo? Under Smit & White we have not lost a home test, we have won a tri-nations, and, marginally lost a second (despite winning more games that year….) Hello? Check their records please…..
22 May 2006, 16:57 pm
Os Du Rant? Can he even play a full 80 minutes these days?
22 May 2006, 17:02 pm
And everyone comes on here and bemoans poor JW (the best Springbok coach we have yet had)
But when we are winning you all want him to go anyways lol. The worlds most Pessamistic lot – KEO.CO.ZA
22 May 2006, 17:06 pm
Zoest its typical of everyone on this forum, they simply refuse to give credit where credit is due. I notice that all these sceptics arnt exaclty out there making the difference.Its piss easy to sit and insult but go out and try make a contribution nah thats to hard.
John Smit is more than just a Hooker. he is in fact our best Hooker, so SB runs 20 metres once every 3 matches.. does not mean you are the best in the country.
23 May 2006, 07:57 am
Paw, let me guess, you want someone from the Bulls to be captain?
23 May 2006, 08:20 am
Paws you are the biggest idiot I have ever heard JS is by far the most accomplished hooker in the country. You are a typical fool who watches SB dummy five guys and think he is awesome, hookers have to scrum and throw in the lineout And yes you want your captain to be “in with coach” by the way
23 May 2006, 08:26 am
nicks .. nope .. I just want the best team on the field .. not one that just wins at home but that can go overseas and beat Eng, France, Aust, and NZ consistantly .. JW has bought back respectability to the boks, but I want the boks to become ‘feared’ again as they once were, where if you play against them you give yourself a 60-40 chance to win .. not half and half like it is now.
JW is a very good coach, unfortunatly though one of his strongest points might turn out to be his achillies heal .. his total lojalty to some players.
I’m sorry, in my oppinion JS does not deserve to be there allong with one or two others .. I stress again, MY opinion .. his work rate and tackling is shocking and I think there are much better. I do not put so my stock in captancy as JW does .. it’s important, but not the alpha & omega of it all.
When it comes to the boks I do not see provincialism .. the best deserve and need to be there.
23 May 2006, 08:34 am
wls .. “JW the best bok coach we have had yet” .. his good, but I can think of two who will be considered better in my era ..
Christie – 100% record + world cup
Mallet – 17 straight wins (equal world record) + tri nations.
23 May 2006, 08:37 am
horns .. as a matter of interest I would place SB & Botha from the bulls at 1 & 2 .. horses for courses, and depending on the conditions I would start with one and substitute later with the other. Just my opinion, and you are more than welcome to your own.
23 May 2006, 10:03 am
If J.Smit is such a great captain, why when leading the AB’s in NZ, with only a couple minutes to go and a defensive lineout on our try line…….does he decide to chuck the ball to the back of the frakin lineout and not the obvious and easy,Matfield at the front?
And he does this quite a lot actually…..
all in all……not a bad player, but let’s not compare him to Pienaar and Teichmann just yet hey?
23 May 2006, 12:47 pm
I think JW likes to feel important and would say any sh*t to just to get published.
JS are currently the most improved hooker in SA but not yet the best hooker.
JW the best coach???? My my how ignorant we are!!!!
23 May 2006, 22:06 pm
Hosh! I do believe that WLS @ 18 failed to understand my post before sounding off! A closer read will reveal that I was in fact suggesting that White’s record indicates that he knows exactly what he is doing, and is doing it well! Perhaps WLS is more “typical of conributors to this forum” by launching into an attack without noticing that he is attacking someone who is in agreement with him! Kindly read properly next time….and then contribute to the forum!
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