Back where he belongs
16 Jul 2010
John Smit wants to keep wearing the Bok No 2 jersey.
‘Would you start at hooker if you weren’t captain?’ It’s a question that has John Smit rolling his eyes. ‘Aw, come on,’ says Smit, who’s had to deal with the question since assuming the Bok captaincy in 2004. It’s a question that’s become even more relevant with the rise of Bismarck du Plessis.
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His face undergoes a transformation; the annoyed countenance morphing into a look of patience reserved for the ignorant and uneducated. He finally leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind his head, completely at ease. He smiles in a way that says I’ll never understand.
Statements about Smit’s playing ability are usually tempered with talk of his value as a leader. Popular perception is that you need to accommodate Smit in the Bok starting line-up because he’s the skipper, not because he’s the best player in his position.
The decision to shift Smit to tighthead in 2008 seemed to affirm the conjecture. Coach Peter de Villiers admitted there were better tightheads, but felt the move was necessary since he envisioned Smit and Du Plessis playing in tandem at the 2011 World Cup.
Du Plessis sustained a serious neck injury towards the end of the recent Super 14, which ruled him out of the Tri-Nations. It was a blow for the Boks, but one that brought about a necessary change in thinking. Smit moved back to hooker, and the move won’t be as temporary as some may expect.
So putting the question to the 32-year-old again, I ask Smit if the rugby community will ever give him his due. Now that he’s back in his favourite position, will they acknowledge him as one of South Africa’s finest hookers? It’s a question that doesn’t receive an answer as much as an explanation as to why it’s the wrong question.
‘The people close to me appreciate me for the player that I am,’ he says confidently. ‘I don’t feel unappreciated, and I’m certainly not unhappy with what I’ve achieved. If I had a chance to rewrite my script, I wouldn’t change much. The move to tighthead was a massive challenge, but if I look back at 2009 when we beat the British & Irish Lions and won the Tri-Nations, it was one of the best years of my career, if not my life.
‘In 2008, I was at the stage where I was thinking a lot less about what was good for me, and more about what was good for the team. That’s why I put my hand up to play prop. I know there will come a time when what’s best for the team is for me to stand aside completely, and that decision lies with the Springbok or Sharks coaching staff. For now, my ambition is to be part of a successful team.
‘I get far more satisfaction out of winning a match or a series than being named Man of the Match or reading about my 9/10 review in the Sunday papers. It’s nice to be the hero, but it’s my job to make the other guys heroes. I want to be the best hooker in the world, but I get more satisfaction out of a win than personal plaudits.’
CJ van der Linde recently signed a six-month contract with the Cheetahs, while another Ireland-based prop in BJ Botha could be moving back to South Africa in the near future. With these two available, the South African front-row stocks have been bolstered considerably, although if required, Smit could still slot in at No 3.
There aren’t too many people who think Smit’s move to tighthead was a success.
Os du Randt, the new Bok scrum coach, believes Smit is a better bet at No 2, while another former South African hardman in Rob Kempson felt the decision to shift Smit was flawed.
‘John moved there to fill a void, and unfortunately, it didn’t work out, as results will confirm,’ Kempson says. ‘It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the problem was technically, as you can never tell unless you’re scrumming against a player.
‘Hooker is his strongest position and if he’s going to captain South Africa at the next World Cup, that is where he must play. Apart from his contributions in other areas, he’s unparalleled as a scrummaging hooker, with Gary Botha probably the second in this respect. If John is playing hooker, it will certainly make the job of whoever is playing tighthead that much easier.’
Bok forwards coach Gary Gold, on the other hand, doesn’t believe the move was a complete failure.
‘So many people focus on the Benn Robinson incidents [where the Wallabies’ No 1 embarrassed Smit during the 2009 Tri-Nations], but it isn’t easy to scrum against those smaller looseheads,’ says Gold. ‘The biggest priority of the scrum is synergy, so you can’t blame one guy, as all eight players need to scrum well. You also have to realise that he’s played less than 10 Tests at tighthead. There are a lot of technical things that need time to develop, technical things that help when you’re up against a shorter guy like Robinson, who can use your own physical strength against you.’
From a scrumming point of view, Smit admits he did all he could just to ensure the Bok scrum didn’t move backwards.
‘There was a lot of trepidation when I moved to tighthead in 2008,’ he recalls. ‘I had played tighthead before, making my debut in Super Rugby alongside Ollie le Roux and Chris Rossouw for the Sharks, but when I put my hand up to play it again in 2008, I was secretly hoping not to snap my neck. It’s a position where experience is crucial, experience I didn’t have, so I had to use a few other tricks to survive.
‘Over the years, when I was playing hooker, I saw what the loosehead would try to do to the tighthead, and I also knew what other tightheads didn’t like from a hooker. I used the knowledge gained by playing 80-plus Tests at hooker to my advantage.
‘If I look back at my time at tighthead, I’d have to say it was far more demanding to do my job as a captain from that position. We were under a lot of pressure at the scrum, and I did all I could to hold my own. It’s not as if we destroyed looseheads, but we often did enough to get that right shoulder.
‘We did fantastically well in other departments, but often people looked at the scrum and said we didn’t dominate. Obviously you want a Bok team to dominate everything, but what about all the rucks we hit, the tackles we made and the ball-carries?
‘The lowlight of my time at prop was the line of questioning. All the attention I got playing tighthead, it seemed like the media didn’t have anything else to write about. I had to try and diffuse the media, saying they should judge me at the end of a two-year period, because no matter what I said and no matter what the results were, the same story would come out every weekend.
‘Then you have a situation where your team-mates are trying to defend you and your coach tries to defend you, it was frustrating. Maybe the media persisted because it was an idea Peter de Villiers had driven, and any idea Peter drives is usually scrutinised by them.’
While Smit battled at the scrum, he delivered some industrious performances around the park. Gold said the Springbok management felt their decision to move Smit was vindicated and couldn’t understand why the public and media harped on about a perceived lack of dominance at the scrum.
‘There are eight to 10 scrums per game, but over 100 breakdowns, so we felt that with John’s mobility, defence and decision-making at the breakdown, he would be a great asset at prop,’ says Gold. ‘He adds plenty of value as a ball-carrier. That first try in the first Test against the Lions is a case in point; he had guys hanging on to him as he went over the line, and had left Brian O’Driscoll trailing in his wake.
‘The experience of scrumming at prop will make him a better hooker. Physically he’s probably the strongest hooker in world rugby, and his strength is particularly uncompromising at the scrum. His physique is suited to hooker in that he’s the perfect height and has a powerful core. He’s very good at the hit, and because he works so hard at his squats in the gym he’s able to generate immense power.’
In theory, a Test team that struggles at the scrum can still get the upper hand if they win the battle at the collisions and breakdown. It’s a point that’s prompted plenty of debate, and Smit feels that winning a scrum gives a team a psychological edge over their opponents.
‘The scrum determines the pack’s confidence. You can’t just say we’ll hang in there in the scrums, but drive the opposition in the lineout and smash them at the breakdowns. It’s like the first punch in a fight. If one oke throws a punch and connects, the second guy is rattled and will be thinking about that first punch for the rest of the fight.
‘The Super 14 is very different to Test rugby, and the northern hemisphere competitions, where scrumming is vitally important, is somewhere in between. If your scrum is weak, you can’t keep the ball in there for too long because you may eventually concede a penalty. It’s about getting the balance right according to your game plan.
‘You can’t just pick a mobile pack and think you’re going to run the other team around the park. A team like France will see a mobile front row of say, Beast Mtawarira, Schalk Brits and John Smit, and just keep the ball in the scrum in order to milk penalties. Penalties can then result in yellow cards and suddenly you are in trouble. You have to decide what you want to achieve in a particular match, and a lot depends on who you are playing.
‘Having CJ and BJ back will see the Bok scrum transform into a completely different animal. BJ’s exceptional at what he does at the scrum, while CJ is a good scrummager, but he’s one of those guys who is also a good athlete. Then you have Beast, Bismarck and myself. If you have those five guys available, you have a lot to work with. It might not be the same front row five weeks in a row, but you can work that to your benefit and pick horses for courses.’
The Boks will be managed carefully in the build-up to the 2011 World Cup, a tournament that’s likely to be Smit’s swansong. There are fears that his best days are behind him and that starting a spent player in this tournament could prove disastrous.
Smit believes there’s sufficient petrol in the tank, and the muscle car that proved so difficult to flag down in 2007 will be operating at optimum efficiency in 2011.
Any talk of him playing hooker is greeted with an optimism and energy that should be transferred to the rugby pitch.
‘You can ask me to perform a role at tighthead and maybe hang in there for a year, but it’s not something I want to do for the rest of my career,’ he says. ‘I only have two or three years left, and not all of that time is going to be spent at Springbok level. I’m no spring chicken, so I want to use that time well by getting back to what I do best, which is playing hooker.
‘So in answering your original question, I want to perform well enough to remain part of this special team. I’ve never seen a group like this together and I wonder how long it will be before we see another group or era like this again. When we prepare for a match, we know it’s only a matter of getting our heads right, because we have the ability to beat anyone. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of something like that, because there’s no risk of complacency.’
By Jon Cardinelli
– This article first appeared in the July issue of SA Rugby magazine. Visit keo.co.za tomorrow to read Grant Ball’s analysis of Smit’s performance against the All Blacks in Wellington.
249 Comments
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16 Jul 2010, 17:53 pm
And let’s just get this irritating post 200 out of the way now…
16 Jul 2010, 17:53 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-201:
Oops…
16 Jul 2010, 17:55 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-198:
My personal opinion, not the best of buys that.
Only positive imo is it adds to your depth at 10 and 12.
16 Jul 2010, 17:56 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-199: makes a lot of sense. You mentioning Jake…..It seems to me Pdivy has a different approach to Jake…Div sees every test as important and seems to me that his not yet thinking of the Wc but rather only on the next test…could be wrong but thats what it looks like
16 Jul 2010, 17:57 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-198:
Wonder if the Sardines will be happy with what he’s offering in return. Great passer, but not really suited to their style I think.
16 Jul 2010, 18:00 pm
Goeie hemel. At this rate Oosthuizen will be well clear by the end of the day.
16 Jul 2010, 18:00 pm
Also i think Div is playing Jdv at wing just as punishment for going to Munster…and rewarding Olivier for his form in the super14…sticking to his word….But after next years super 15 i think he will reinstate Jdv at 12 before the WC
16 Jul 2010, 18:02 pm
Anyone know if the CJ move to the Stormers in the Super15 has been confirmed…is it a done deal??
16 Jul 2010, 18:03 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-204:
Careful with that assumption, remember Jake was called back mid-tour to defend his selections (EOYT 2006) being primarily young second choice guys AFTER he got the okay from SARU to do it!!!
Any Bok coach cannot afford to lose tests, our media are way to childish for that.
I am however not impressed with the current management of our top players but we need to remember that the Bok management guys met with all the Super rugby coaches and struck a deal so perhaps we will see the fruits of this later???
Difficult to say but I would have personally done it slightly differently but not much, I think for the most part our coaching staff is not too far off from the ideal situation or position they want to be.
16 Jul 2010, 18:04 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-208:
Signed, sealed delivered, CJ is playing for the Stormers in 2011.
16 Jul 2010, 18:18 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-209: ya you right…..no bok coach can afford to lose tests…..maybe thats why Div is sticking with his tried and tested and not starting with an inexperienced team for say the EOYT for eg.But i agree with your earlier post that Smit an Matfield needs to be rested at different times with not much damage. Bekker could replace Victor after a superb super season
16 Jul 2010, 18:20 pm
@grant10(grant10)-196: i know dude….
i had a laugh when i read it and thought i should post it…it was a day after the 3rd Test against the B&I Lions 
16 Jul 2010, 18:21 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-211:
It is also more complicated now compared to Jake seeing we are current 3N champs having won it quite convincingly last year.
Jake had no such ‘honor’ to defend.
16 Jul 2010, 18:21 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-210: great! so next year our front row stocks:
Blaauw
Moller
Kritzinger
Liebenberg
Fourie
Harris
Van de Linde
16 Jul 2010, 18:22 pm
And although I see a lot of similarities in wanting PDV fired as much as people wanted Jake fired in 2006 a year out from the RWC we also have to remember PDV has this ‘quota’ tag never had…
By default he has to prove more than even Jake did…
16 Jul 2010, 18:26 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-213: Jake didnt have that ‘honor’ to defend but geez the oke was on the chopping block…he must of felt his job was on the line…so both were under pressure one way or the other….though id much rather be in Divs shoes
16 Jul 2010, 18:27 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-214:
I just wish Deon Fourie could eclipse Tiaan as the starting hooker.
16 Jul 2010, 18:30 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-216:
For sure, I was more tired defending Jake than I am defending PDV.
PDV has got the advantage that no-one can actually openly attack his ‘transformation’ policy which was one of the primary weapons used against Jake.
16 Jul 2010, 18:32 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-215: i think thats a bit unfair…the quota label only really came up in his first year in 2008…but since then everyone respects what Div has achieved and doesn’t look at him now as ‘the first black coach’….but just as the springbok coach. Even the international media…though they might see him as a little eccentric im sure they respect what he has achieved. So i don’t think he has ‘more’ to prove, just pressure that comes with being the springbok coach
16 Jul 2010, 18:33 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-209: u quite right in this era where a coach’s win ratio (post-isolation) is readily used against him, every Test is a must win and whatever experiment they undertake must be a measured one. That’s why i feel robbie deans is living in a bubble, where even the australian media give him enough rope.
16 Jul 2010, 18:34 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-218:
Jake lost his wife thanks to that debacle.
16 Jul 2010, 18:35 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-217: great impact player though
16 Jul 2010, 18:36 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-218: i remember after the 49-0 debacle, jake was under the kosh, damn!
16 Jul 2010, 18:36 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-218: lol ya kinda like criticizing the government on a weak Bee policy
16 Jul 2010, 18:37 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-219:
Of course it is unfair, but mate when I read comments and articles about PDV I always pick up the ‘PDV being a coloured’ theme in most of them.
Am I paranoid?
16 Jul 2010, 18:37 pm
@Die_Valk(Die_Valk)-221: jake cheated on his wife, please!
16 Jul 2010, 18:37 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-223: ya
i thought he was gona be fired when they called him back mid tour
16 Jul 2010, 18:42 pm
Anycase my point has always been our coaches black or white, has seldom been judged on rugby but conveniently on other, non-factors.
Where Transie made a good point just above on that as-well.
16 Jul 2010, 18:42 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-226:
Shut up, I was tring to be dramatic. Your a real kill-joy.
16 Jul 2010, 18:43 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-225: i see your point PissAnt
and that says a lot about the person making the comment. Question is does Div really care what people say or think about him that would give him extra pressure?? I don’t think so….to quote ol Divvy…”I love myself a lot”
16 Jul 2010, 18:44 pm
Goodbye Ernie
16 Jul 2010, 18:52 pm
@Die_Valk(Die_Valk)-229: sorry mate, i skipped drama class for fine arts in high school…but i see now you have a penchant for hyperbole
16 Jul 2010, 18:54 pm
Bok’s going to get smacked to smithereens again tomorrow better believe it
Chief proponent of the loss factor John Smit
When they realize how dead this dead end road to nowhere is that is when they will shake the encrusted sleep from off their dreamy foggy free falling eyes.
I’m encouraging AB’s to smack Bok’s right out their slumber zone another snotklap exactly what the doctor orders and not a game too soon.
16 Jul 2010, 18:58 pm
@assagai(ahura)-233: you a bok supporter??
16 Jul 2010, 19:00 pm
yup believe it or not that is exactly what I am, but not about to stand around and watch dumb debilitated idiots drive their heads deeper in the sand, if they can’t teach themselves the difference between wide awake objectivity then let the AB’s do it for them, somebody gotta do it if they so dumb they can’t evolve by themselves.
16 Jul 2010, 19:03 pm
@assagai(ahura)-235: so if the boks win tomorrow u’l be happy or disappointed??? sounds to me you really hoping they lose
16 Jul 2010, 19:09 pm
under current paradigms Bok’s deserve to lose
I won’t be happy nor disappointed, I encourage courage not cowardice, Bok’s like they were under Jake just too chicken to step out their imbecilic archaic comfort zones so let the Ab’s teach them the lesson just like Australia taught them with a 49-0 snotklap.
16 Jul 2010, 19:33 pm
quotas costing the griquas & cheetahs …. Nokwe & Rocco Jansen … hond k@K … quota po3se
16 Jul 2010, 19:35 pm
@assagai(ahura)-237: So whats wrong with the Boks in your opinion…..what would your staring lineup be???
16 Jul 2010, 19:36 pm
@quotas_sux(quota_conrad_jantjies_is_jorrie_muller)-238: Chip on your shoulder mate
16 Jul 2010, 19:44 pm
who is playing 10 for the cheeters?
16 Jul 2010, 20:17 pm
Bok’s are living in denial
poor delinquent daydreamers thinking if F. Steyn and F. Du Preez were playing it would make any difference. Just a pity they not because would be the real McCoy wake up call if those two messiah’s were contributing to this kick and chase garbage collectivity of delirious delusions and sent packing just the same.
Problem starts at the engine room, Smit is the fundamental problematical architect of the entire dismal debauchery of debilitated denial. Ab’s must just destroy any semblance of any such ingrained idiocy so that we can once and for all recognize exactly where the cancerous dead end game plan originates.
16 Jul 2010, 20:20 pm
@quotas_sux(quota_conrad_jantjies_is_jorrie_muller)-238:
Yep, it cost the Griquas a win against the Sharks, or am I getting you wrong?
16 Jul 2010, 20:55 pm
@assagai(ahura)-242:
Too much vested in Smit as the Leader for him to be dropped. Mores the poignancy of his continued support given Biz is such an incredible athlete at 2 but is a sarnie or 3 short of a picnic upstairs whereas Smit has all the smarts but lacks the athleticism. The thing with a Leader having too much power, as opposed to shared responsibility, is that it tends to flow thru the game and less of the XV taking leadership decisions. Every team has 3-4 leaders at least, without FdP there Smit really only has Matfield. And Big Vic suddenly doesnt look so smart when he’s not taking 110% of all lineout ball.
16 Jul 2010, 20:56 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-244:
…..every ‘great’ team….
16 Jul 2010, 23:03 pm
@quotas_sux(quota_conrad_jantjies_is_jorrie_muller)-238: quotas suck boet quotas suck…
17 Jul 2010, 08:18 am
Robbie Kempson should never be quoted or sought for an opinion on anything to do with rugby union. To do so undermines the credibility of your article or any point you’re trying to make.
And to refer to him as a “hardman” is laughable.
I watched Springbok, Natal and Province rugby for many years and Kempson was a dirty thug in the mould of Bakkies but without the impact that Bakkies at least sometimes manages.
As a scrummager he was average at best and I lost count the number of times he got his head shoved up his *ss. As for his contribution around the park – negligible. I remember seeing him being handed off and missing tackles that cost the Stormers and Boks dearly. Overrated as a player and his opinion should count for nought.
17 Jul 2010, 08:28 am
@assagai(ahura)-242: Skoppie, you been given your marching orders again boet? None more deserving perhaps.
17 Jul 2010, 12:22 pm
What John Smit wants is inconsistent with what John Smit is capable of doing. He is an overweight, lumbering oaf who doesn’t even look Currie Cup standard. He has the acceleration of a zimmerframe that’s been welded to the floor and only looks interested in where his next pie is coming from.
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