‘I am not done yet’
24 Jun 2011
In an exclusive interview with MARK KEOHANE for Business Day Sport Monthly, John Smit insists he is the right man to lead the World Cup defence and that he has plenty still left in the tank.
‘It would be the act of a coward,’ insists John Smit. ‘Only a coward would be that selfish to bail out in the belief it will preserve a legacy.
‘In fact,’ he says, ‘to shy away from the challenge of defending the World Cup because the Boks may lose and I may be remembered as a captain who lost a World Cup and not one who won it … no … no … that’s not why we play the game. It has to be about the challenge; about doing something incredible; about creating history … this team is good enough to defend the 2007 title and I believe I have a contribution to make. If we lose I want to be at the heart of the battle and not all suited up sitting in a corporate suite listening to people say that if I had been there it would have been different, and me reflecting on how we won the 2007 World Cup.
‘The motivation, though, is to be there if we win … and I believe we can win. I believe we are a better squad now than in 2007 and we were a very good squad at that tournament.’
Smit is South Africa’s most celebrated and experienced Springbok captain. Outside a home unions Grand Slam tour victory he has led the Boks to every success. In the past seven years the Boks have won the World Cup, won the Tri-Nations, beaten the British & Irish Lions, never lost a home series, won at Twickenham, beaten France, beaten every team, won in Australia and (the apex for any Bok player) won against the All Blacks in New Zealand.
Many expected Smit to call time on his international career after the Boks beat the All Blacks in Hamilton, New Zealand, in 2009 to win the Tri-Nations. It would have been the fairytale ending.
A World Cup in 2007, a British & Irish Lions series win in 2009 and the Tri-Nations a few months later, with the All Blacks having been beaten (by the Boks) in three successive Tests, including Smit’s first-ever international success against the All Blacks in New Zealand.
‘Go now,’ screamed 2007 World Cup-winning coach Jake White. ‘You have nothing left to achieve. Which guy climbs Everest to plant a flag only to climb it again to take out the flag?’
White’s constant public condemnation of Smit refusing to quit international rugby was more than an irritation admits Smit, but he doesn’t believe it was the only reason the media started hammering him and elements within the public started calling for his axing.
‘Playing for the Springboks means there is no easy ride, no escape and never a place to hide. Captaining them means the scrutiny is even more intense. The rewards when things are going well are immense; the flip side is the vitriol is as hectic when you don’t play well and the team doesn’t win. I have no problem with that,’ says Smit. ‘I have always felt the media has been fair to me in their praise and criticism. It certainly didn’t help having Jake telling the media every week how out of shape I was and that my time as a Bok was over and that he wouldn’t pick me as a hooker. But I had to look at my own performances; what the team was doing and my influence in the team and on us potentially winning the 2011 World Cup.
‘Decisions about 2011 could never have been made in 2011, from senior players and from the coaching staff. Some people may not get that. A lot of planning has gone into this World Cup defence, and I think we all learnt lessons from the 1999 campaign when Gary Teichmann was dropped three months before the tournament, having led the team since 1996. His experience and his value as a player were definitely missed and [Bok coach in 1999] Nick Mallett has conceded he would have done things differently in hindsight.
‘None of us who were there in Paris in 2007 wanted to have to rely on hindsight post-2011, be it because we weren’t there or because we weren’t in the condition to be there.
‘If I or some of the senior players were doubting whether we could go the distance to 2011 then we had to make that call in 2009. It would have been improper and damn insulting to what we have tried to build as a squad since 2004 to play a waiting game.
‘We all had to commit to defending the title in New Zealand in 2011 after we won the British & Irish Lions series or we had to get out and give Peter [de Villiers] and his coaches two years to introduce new players and mould a team for the World Cup.
‘I made the decision in 2009 to stay and it was based on my belief that no World Cup winning squad has ever had as good a chance of defending the title. It has never been done and I want to be a part of something that hasn’t been done. As I already said, I owe it to myself to be on the field and not in the stands. If I gave it up in 2009 and the squad defended the title I’d have to live with a lot of regret and regret is not something I ever want to carry with me post-rugby. I’d rather take the risk of losing and being there, being true to myself and what I believe I can contribute.’
Those who refuse to acknowledge Smit’s value to a winning 2011 Bok campaign will argue Smit being at the World Cup weakens the team and will single out the 2010 season and Smit’s form as an international prop. It is not something he hasn’t heard before.
‘I started playing for the Boks in 2000. Then I couldn’t scrum, I didn’t have enough mongrel to be a Test hooker, I wasn’t strong enough, big enough, crazy enough and … and … and … pick whichever one you want. I have heard them all, at least one of them every time before every one of my 102 Tests. I am my biggest critic. I don’t kid myself and I have a support base of family and close friends who wouldn’t allow me that illusion or luxury.
‘When my form has not been up to standard I have taken it on the chin, put in more work and tried to fix it. I have never doubted my ability,’ he says. ‘I believe I do add value to the Boks’ World Cup campaign and that my overall contribution as a captain and player with 102 Tests makes the squad stronger, but I also believe I am owed no favours and expect none. If Peter said to me that for the Boks to win the World Cup it would mean me not starting a game at the World Cup I’d sign on the dotted line. It has to be team first and individual aspirations second. It has always been what has made this core of players so successful. I’d know if being there was a negative because there are too many of us who have been together since 2004 and those strong personalities wouldn’t tolerate a passenger. They’d have wished me well, thanked me, suited me up and sent me on my way to that corporate suite.’
In a 2009 interview with SA Rugby magazine Smit said: ‘I don’t want to be the guy who keeps going long after he should have called it a day. I’ve felt sorry for players who have tried to keep going when all the signs were pointing at the door. I hope it will never be me.’
I recall the interview and his quote and suggest there are people feeling sorry for him. And the sympathetic ones are some of his biggest supporters. Smit concedes 2010 was not a good year, but says 2006 was equally horrible.
‘We were a minute away from a sixth successive Bok defeat in Rustenburg against the All Blacks. They were 20-18 ahead and they gave away the silliest of penalties. If it wasn’t for Andre Pretorius’ winning kick we would have all been gone by the end-of-year tour. Jake wouldn’t have survived, I would have been gone with him and a new coach would probably have done an overall on the squad.
‘A year later we were world champions with the same players. You need good fortune in sport and you also need to never give up on yourself if you truly believe you have it. I believe this squad does still have it. In fact, they had it more than four years ago because we as individuals and a unit have matured and grown enormously in four years. I believe I still have it. Last year wasn’t good. I was alternating between prop and hooker, my weight was up because of the positional switch and I was struggling with injury.
‘To miss the end-of-year tour in 2010 to undergo a neck operation was a blessing. I got on the scale after the operation and I weighed 127kg. I told myself: “Come on Barney. This is bullshit. This isn’t what you committed to in 2009. Prop or hooker … it doesn’t matter … get your neck and your conditioning sorted and go out there and help the Boks make history.” Physically, six months later, I am in as good a shape as I was in 2007.’
Smit weighs 115kg and is injury-free. The ongoing struggles playing prop haven’t gone away in Super Rugby, but it is when he has played hooker that he’s looked as good as at any stage of his career.
‘It is quite clear that hooker is my position, but I will play where needed and I will do whatever is needed to help this squad create history.
‘I am not done yet. I also know the value of experience. I went to the 2003 World Cup with youngsters hoping for a miracle. In 2007 we had more experience and it was defining to how we managed the pressure and played.
‘In 2011 we will take the most experienced Bok team to a World Cup. It will take a very good side to beat us and if one does there will be no regret from me that I didn’t walk away in 2009. But as I keep on saying, the reason to stay on was to win and not lose. And this generation of Bok player knows how to win.’
– This article first appeared in the July issue of Business Day Sport Monthly, which is distributed FREE with the newspaper on the second last Friday of the month.
590 Comments
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24 Jun 2011, 21:21 pm
S very festive at wimbledon tonight
All I need now are some strawberries and a pot of tea
24 Jun 2011, 21:25 pm
@LightZone(LightZone)-530:
Koster won’t make the squad, let alone the first xv.
Smith will be fit, if not, Burger at 7
PdV will stick with Morne at 10. Butch or Lambie on bench
The Boks will never play 3 forwards and 4 backs on the bench.
24 Jun 2011, 21:25 pm
Murray has to grow some hair and balls cos he has his mother watching his every match
24 Jun 2011, 21:27 pm
I am tired os smit talk and team combinations
24 Jun 2011, 21:29 pm
@cab(cab)-550: the last time i checked there were MULTIPLE substitutions made at the exact time, plod didn’t make miracles…TEAM effort against FIJI nogal…
24 Jun 2011, 21:29 pm
@LightZone(LightZone)-542: Tell that to a certain French warrior.
And Josh Strauss.
24 Jun 2011, 21:30 pm
And there will be more smit talk tomorrow
24 Jun 2011, 21:30 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-553: If my son played, I’ll always be there (daddy), but his mom will also be there. Shows great family unity. Koodoo’s.
24 Jun 2011, 21:31 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-554: Os Smit? That sounds fantastic.
24 Jun 2011, 21:33 pm
I would be emraboer to have my mother everywhere
I love her to bits but not when I’m a big boy now playing wimbledon
24 Jun 2011, 21:33 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-555: Hehe. You are always the first to use the replacement of a player to prove why the game turned. Now you step into the other boots (the ones pointing out that one player alone can not bring about drastic change).
24 Jun 2011, 21:34 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-560: Why not? If your son was playing, I bet my last penny you’d be there.
24 Jun 2011, 21:35 pm
Go Sharks. Give us a huge upset.
24 Jun 2011, 21:35 pm
And I have to scroll past this epic tome every time
24 Jun 2011, 21:36 pm
@TheAgent(TheAgent)-552: I know what he will do. You said your team not PDV team hence I put my team, which I hate doing btw and now feel silly to have been drawn in.
24 Jun 2011, 21:38 pm
@LightZone(LightZone)-565: Don’t feel silly. Yes, I said my team, and that was the one I selected. No probs if you pick Koster, and 5 backs and 2 forwards on the bench. Personally, I’ll NEVER do that.
24 Jun 2011, 21:38 pm
He’s a big baby
24 Jun 2011, 21:38 pm
@LightZone(LightZone)-565: What do you mean “drawn in”?
24 Jun 2011, 21:39 pm
@TheAgent(TheAgent)-556: Those aren’t beards on those guys. It’s more like forests!
24 Jun 2011, 21:40 pm
@TheAgent(TheAgent)-568: I mean I put up a team when you said I might disagree. Nothing negative. No worries. And I had a 5/2 split not 4/3 for the bench.
24 Jun 2011, 21:41 pm
@LightZone(LightZone)-569: Each one for himself. I prefer the beards to these “Highlander” styles, the one Hougaard is wearing. But hey, I suppose it gets them noticed.
24 Jun 2011, 21:41 pm
Murray has pre pubescent fuzz
24 Jun 2011, 21:43 pm
@LightZone(LightZone)-570: Oh, so I take it the Francois is in Louw? To be honest, for a final, I might even go with a 5/2 split
Bismark
Guthro
Bekker
Rossouw
Burger
Hougaard
Butch/Lambie
24 Jun 2011, 21:44 pm
Cheers LighZone. Nice chatting. Go the Sharks.
24 Jun 2011, 21:44 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-560: I know that feeling. When I played club and provincial sport it was sometimes embarassing having them there all the time but later on they understood. I eventually enjoyed them there.
24 Jun 2011, 21:46 pm
cheers agent.
24 Jun 2011, 21:50 pm
@TheAgent(TheAgent)-561: go ahead and say smit alone changed that game & make ur name gat
24 Jun 2011, 21:55 pm
The Rock of Gilbraltar.
what an aura.
24 Jun 2011, 21:56 pm
Smit smit smit
24 Jun 2011, 22:00 pm
Baby it’s cold outside
24 Jun 2011, 22:04 pm
Forget Wimbledon, we have Glastonbury on here…..WRS with BB King in one room, I am testing the water with Mumford and Sons (They jury is out)……..!
24 Jun 2011, 22:05 pm
BB King?! Oh Boy! That must be a treat.
24 Jun 2011, 22:10 pm
@LightZone(LightZone)-582:
He is amazing for a guy in his 80′s tho!
Sadly I am more rock than blues!!
The crowd are loving him.
24 Jun 2011, 22:14 pm
haha everything stems from the Blues. That man is married to his guitar Lucille. The Edge said once he listened to BB King a lot. Slash also professed to enjoying the style of BB King.
24 Jun 2011, 22:16 pm
I’ve seen some great acts in my lifetime but yet have to experience BB King live. That would be such a treat.
24 Jun 2011, 22:56 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-577: I have never and will never. Say that about any other player (including Bismark/Chili), and make your name gat.
24 Jun 2011, 23:01 pm
@TheAgent(TheAgent)-586: It is very rare for one player to come on and change the game. It can and has happened, but it is the exeption. It usually takes a combination of events to turn a losing situation (desperate), into a winning situation.
24 Jun 2011, 23:03 pm
John Smit, the King of SA rugby.
25 Jun 2011, 03:01 am
@carol(carol)-581:
EVERYBODY,… GO HOME,… GO HOME… EVERYBODY….tell your father…tell your mother… tell your brother…tell your sister…tell EVERYBODY…
BB KING….. is in TOWN…
What an introduction!!!
25 Jun 2011, 05:31 am
Well, I am just going to skip the 12 pages of comments, since I already have a good idea what they say (as it has been mostly the same comments from the same people ad nauseum)
Smit is the best Captain the Boks have ever had, and any time of the day I would choose to still have him on the field for 40 to 60 min (and maybe 5 minutes at the end with a clever front-row switcharoo)
Him, Matfield, Du Preez and others are the sort of chaps who win a WC. As long as there are some young up & coming enthusiastic players around them to pick up the slack a bit that comes with their age.
I believe we have the Squad to get the balance 100% correct.
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