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, 16:07 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-147:
Maybe I made that up too.
16 Jul 2010, 16:10 pm
@grant10(grant10)-114: boet, the following were your thoughts last year, how far are you from then now a year later?
342. grant10 :
July 5th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
1st thing i would do is get on the line to CJ VD LINDE….
if he says no….call bj….
If he says no…blood werner Kruger
Move J smit back to 2….
Brussow must start
Steggmann into squad of 30…..
Serious chats to Matfield, bakkies ,J Smith and J Smit…..they either commit to 2011 or start the search for successors now….
DONT play j smith at 4 or 5….never ever play okes out of position at the highest level…it is a disease in our rugby and a cheap way of avoiding the tough calls!
Bissy off the bench last 30….J Smit can move to loosehead but never play him at 3 again….he doesent deserve to be treated in this way….even Os said he would never contemplate trying to play 3 !!!
Dewalt Potgieter, Steggmann must be knocking at the door….and i am getting to the conclusion that a Duanne Vermeulen at 8 may be the answer with the speed of Spies used of the bench in last 30 min.
Our huge pressing issue is to 100% back a 10….3….6…and 15….
I am sure Pdv learnt a lot from yesterdays fiasco…never again should we have to see a bok front row so humiliated and our pack bullied like a girlie team….
16 Jul 2010, 16:16 pm
Yawnapalooza…
And as for crowded house..
Sweet lord that was embraboer..
What next?
midnight oil?
16 Jul 2010, 16:17 pm
@Diliza(Diliza)-143:
Cape Town
16 Jul 2010, 16:19 pm
@gunther(gunther)-153:
Midnight Oil is Aussie.
16 Jul 2010, 16:19 pm
John Smit article
Interesting times ahead. Not much heat now but when Bismark comes back the magnifying class will be on his performance. Hope he gets back to form soon.
More importantly to me though, our loose trio.
What happens when Brussouw and Juan comes back to the squad?
Fetcher…no fetcher? that debate will rise up again. Juan is a yster and cant be dropped…brings a lot to the table and spies looks as if hes going to retain the 8 jersey for some time. So then do we play Brussouw, Burger or Potgieter at 6. Burger is a Pdivv favourite so it looks more likely that the Boks starting loose trio will be Shalla, Juan and Spies back to the 2007 trio before the WC going into next years WC
16 Jul 2010, 16:21 pm
@gunther(gunther)-153: gunther, have you joined the sa rugby mag facebook page, i’ve just joined
who is who in the zoo?
16 Jul 2010, 16:22 pm
130. grant10(grant10) :
Sounds like a good day
16 Jul 2010, 16:23 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-156: question is, why did pdv move john to tighthead in 2008? could he do his primary duties better than bissie at the time?
sharks_lover, how long until bissie is back?
16 Jul 2010, 16:24 pm
ZANE
KIRCHNER
IS A
S I M P S O N
16 Jul 2010, 16:25 pm
@Mike H(Mike H)-158: jake went to get eddie to help him out after a disastrous 2006, who do you think pdv should send and SOS to if 2010 goes pear-shaped, heyneke Meyer, Rassie Erasmus, Alister Coetzee, John Mitchell?
16 Jul 2010, 16:26 pm
BEST BOK BACKLINE
15 F Steyn
14 F Steyn
13 F Steyn
12 F Steyn
11 F Steyn
10 M Steyn
09 F du Preez
16 Jul 2010, 16:27 pm
If Heyneke Meyer was Springbok coach we wouldn’t have lost a match in 3 years.
16 Jul 2010, 16:28 pm
how uncanny is this?
Boks have a point to prove
Veteran Springbok prop Os du Randt is more motivated than ever ahead of the Vodacom Tri-Nations Test against the All Blacks on Saturday.
Following the humiliation of the 49-0 defeat at the hands of the Wallabies in Brisbane last weekend, Du Randt says he and the rest of his team-mates are out to prove a point in Wellington.
“That loss was a huge wake-up call,” du Randt told keo.co.za from the Bok hotel in Wellington. “But we had something similar last year when we lost to Australia in Sydney (32-12) and it served to get us back on track.”
“We were just not right for that game and now the difficult thing is getting our minds right for the clash with the Blacks at the weekend.†With the current mood and the slew of injuries to top players the possibility of a Springbok victory on Saturday could likened to extracting blood from a stone. Impossible?
At the end of the day though the old adage of you are only as good as your last game rings true for the Boks. If they manage to pull off a shock win in New Zealand for the first time since 1998 then the Brisbane Bashing will be soon forgotten by the Boks fickle fans.
But another record defeat will have fans calling for the heads of coach Jake White, his management team as well as the players. Conceding 49 points without reply is just unacceptable.
And du Randt says the defeat should never be forgotten. “A win on Saturday will be great, but we must not get ahead of ourselves. The lessons of the defeat to Australia must never be forgotten.
“We should watch that video every single day to remind us of what not to do and how it felt to be humbled in that way. Even if we play well on Saturday we must not try and sweep what happened in Brisbane under the carpet.”
While a Springbok victory at the Wespac Stadium is highly unlikely especially given the current circumstances, stranger things have happened in rugby. This is, of course, a Bok team that has won two of its last four Tests against the Old Enemy.
And they were the last team to beat the All Blacks – at Nelwands in Cape Town last year. No one expects anything but a convincing All Black win, except maybe the Boks, but that is because they have to believe.
By Andrew Hollely
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 20th, 2006
16 Jul 2010, 16:30 pm
BEST BOK BACKLINE
15 F Steyn
14 F Steyn
13 F Steyn
12 F Steyn
11 F Steyn
10 M Steyn
09 F du Preez
If Heyneke Meyer was Springbok coach we wouldn’t have lost a match in 3 years.
16 Jul 2010, 16:30 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-159: At the time Bissy was in superb form so i would say no, and probably the best hooker in the world in 2009. Hes injured now and will probably take some time for him to his straps again….this might give some time for Smit to regain some form. With the quality in this squad..when a player gets injured he is likely to lose his play to the next in line as Pdivv often said. Same with Jacobs (fourie), De Villiers (WO) and possible Bakkies (Danie)
16 Jul 2010, 16:33 pm
@Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)-162: Are you Frans Steyn??
16 Jul 2010, 16:34 pm
Mustard…hello Jake
16 Jul 2010, 16:34 pm
Transie
What do I do? I’m on facefuck but I’m not what you would call an active participant..
Dawn
Australia New Zealand
Tomato tomato..
Upper Wynberg Chelsea Village.
16 Jul 2010, 16:35 pm
161. Transformation(Transformation) :
PDV I think does need better assistant support, however these guys have proved a good team in the past. They have a good record as coaches of the team however they might need to rethink their strategy a bit to adapt to the new rules.
I think it’s not SOS time. It’s time to rest our core and give our youngsters more game time.
Next year get our full strength back together with more experienced youngsters as backup and away we go to the tri-nations and WC.
I wonder if PDV will do what Jake did though and keep playing our core and then rest them next year before the WC.
16 Jul 2010, 16:35 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-161: maybe ol Jakey could be the help this time around…whats it now…Jake White winning Ways
16 Jul 2010, 16:37 pm
@Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)-168: hello luster
16 Jul 2010, 16:38 pm
@gunther(gunther)-169:
Facefuck
16 Jul 2010, 16:38 pm
Obviously New Zealand will lose to France in the World Cup, so at least we’ll play them in the Final and not the semis.
In the Final we’ll put 50 points past them.
Why?
Cause Bakkies last game will be used to kopstamp McCaw and snotklap Carter, and even with his red card, we’ll march past the ABs without their Skywalkers.
16 Jul 2010, 16:39 pm
171. Mustard(Mustard) :
i wouldn’t mind seeing that tbh but not too sure they are good mates like Jake and Eddie
16 Jul 2010, 16:39 pm
How is that possible
OK lemme try
****.
16 Jul 2010, 16:40 pm
176. Dawn(Dawn) :
AHHAHA
16 Jul 2010, 16:41 pm
So it works with Facefuck but not on its own.
16 Jul 2010, 16:43 pm
JS is still the man in my book. he does need to get back into condition, but he’d still be the first guy i write down in the teamsheet.
If we have to play him into shape then so be it. He’s done the yoyo weight thing for us because he was asked to so I will stay loyal. He’s miles ahead of Gary Botha and Bissie. Bissie is good around the park but if he’s so essential and gives us turnovers etc then pick him at 6. Which when you look at it might not be at all a bad idea, couldn’t be more of a risk than playing JDV on wing…….
16 Jul 2010, 16:45 pm
@Mike H(Mike H)-177:
What!
Just checking!
16 Jul 2010, 16:45 pm
j.smits value from the bench will be significant in the coming 12 months once bismark is back,naturally.
currently,when it comes to our backrow…the sum of the parts is not greater than the individuals talent. Skalk has escaped critisism in this regard but truth be told he’s no Juan Smit and certainly not more dynamic than the young Potgieter is.
…and Flo isn’t quick enough,smart enough, hard nor squat enough to match Brussow.
16 Jul 2010, 16:45 pm
See
It’s fuckingsimple
Really
16 Jul 2010, 16:46 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-173: Dont be ombeskof….kids read this site at times
16 Jul 2010, 16:47 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-181:
let’s just hope that Smit doesn’t get quotated off the bench by Sicknote Ralapelle.
16 Jul 2010, 16:48 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-183:
Jinne julle mense
GUNTHER started it .. NOT ME!
Just like this morning when UnbeataBULL was on my case for something that PREDAWN started!!!!
Why do I always get the facefucking blame!
16 Jul 2010, 16:48 pm
@Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)-165: Worst KEO Post:
1) Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)
2) Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)
3) Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)
4) Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)
5) Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)
16 Jul 2010, 16:52 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-181: and not forgetting that Spies shouldn’t escape criticism either…..the WC is in NZ…and with that performance last week….im a little worried
16 Jul 2010, 16:54 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-185: sorry then Dawn
16 Jul 2010, 16:56 pm
Mike H
Children should be at school.
Anyway I defy you to find a child that is old enough to use a computer that hasn’t heard/spoken/written/read words like that and worse.
Nevertheless you are right in that it is entirely dawns fault.
As usual.
16 Jul 2010, 17:05 pm
189. gunther(gunther) :
I had a chuckle thats all
Dawn trying and not succeeding 
its Friday afternoon, i’m in a good mood
16 Jul 2010, 17:11 pm
Whoever is conducting Bakkies behavioural rehab please refrain from using the “Use your Head Bakkies” line.
He will take it literally!
16 Jul 2010, 17:20 pm
To whoever asked.
Bismarck by all accounts is still a month off the pitch.
16 Jul 2010, 17:28 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-192: Enough time for Smit to get some form back maybe. Fine line…he needs rest and get his physical conditioning in order…but also needs game time at hooker to regain some form before Bissy comes back. Think Div will go with the latter.
16 Jul 2010, 17:31 pm
Test
16 Jul 2010, 17:33 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-193:
Bissie or no Bissie, I would have pulled Smit from the 3N or at the very least from one of the legs (home or away).
G.Botha, Chilli would have done a good enough holding job.
Both Boks, both experienced at this level.
16 Jul 2010, 17:44 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-152: LOL
Seems i have a reasonably consistent point of view!!
16 Jul 2010, 17:46 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-195: I do agree that he needs rest….but do in the 3nations…the tourney that defines our year? I would rest him rather then in the EOYT when Bissy is fully fit and he can slot in. Then next year super15 rotate him and Bissy in the no2 jersey…what you think?
16 Jul 2010, 17:48 pm
@grant10(grant10)-196: hello old ****
btw meyer bosman is about to close the deal with the sharks
said to be very happy with what the sharks have offered him
16 Jul 2010, 17:52 pm
@Mustard(Mustard)-197:
For my money Smit does not need to prove a lot in a 3N tourney or NZ for that matter.
Managing Smit is about one thing and one thing only, the World Cup.
Anything inbetween is a bonus.
My thinking was more along the lines of pull Smit from the 3N, play Matfield (as captain).
EOYT switch it, rest Vic and play Smit.
Next year, manage them (and others) through the S14 (play them mostly) and pull a Jake, play the first choice boys in the home leg to keep the sharp, play your back up boys on the away leg.
16 Jul 2010, 17:52 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-198: Good news for you guys….solid 12 but no flash. Just glad Straulie is not sicking his paws in Juan de Jongh
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