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| John Smit © Gallo Images |
South Africa dare not look further than John Smit for the captaincy of the Springbok team for next year’s World Cup.
It’s not as if Springbok coach Peter de Villiers needed convincing of that, but veteran Sharks lock Johann Muller felt it was necessary for the sceptical rugby media and public to be reminded of Smit’s quality.
Muller said that the “best captain in the world” had played a key role in helping the Sharks emerge from their slump this year. The Sharks lost their first five games in this year’s Super 14, but have since won four in a row.
“If we are honest with ourselves, we will say that we weren’t good enough in those first five games,” Muller said of the Sharks’ poor start.
“Even so, we should actually have beaten the Chiefs, Cheetahs, Waratahs and Brumbies. We had some rotten luck.
“It took some hard work to dig ourselves out. John Plumtree really grew as a coach and handled the pressure brilliantly. It’s also easier when you have the world’s best captain steering the ship.
“John has experienced similar situations. When I joined the Springboks in 2006 it was a difficult year for us.
“The only way to get through situations like that is to call on previous experience. John knows exactly where to look for the problems.
“We were also fortunate that other senior players such as Jacques Botes and Stefan Terblanche were in the set-up. You need your leaders to stand up and be counted.”
Smit has performed well as loosehead prop in recent weeks, though it has limited Tendai (Beast) Mtawarira’s chances.
However, it has meant that Plumtree has been able to fit Smit and Bismarck du Plessis into his front row.
The Sharks were infuriated by rumours earlier this year that Smit and the Du Plessis brothers – Bismarck and Jannie – did not get along.
There were also rumours of disappointment in the camp about Muller being replaced as captain in the Super 14 by Smit this year.
Muller, who will be joining Irish provincial team Ulster after the Super 14, never had a problem with it.
“Plum was very open about it. He came to me and Stefan and said ‘why not use the best captain in world rugby’. John and I are big friends and have played with and under one another. John is made for that role. It comes naturally to him.
“There are a few reporters and people who doubt whether he is the best in the positions that he plays, but for me as a player John just has to be there. He gets the best out of me.
“John’s performances in recent weeks have been excellent. I have no doubt that he should captain the Boks in 2011. It will offer South Africa’s best chance of retaining the Cup.”
Nice article.
Of course John will captain us during the world cup unless he gets injured.
Best Bok captain ever.
puma bro good morning to ya , and i only do nice article hehehe
but yes John smit is the one that should lead us
not sure after 2011, maybe a pottie or schalk burger , depends on who makes the team i guess
same for the sharks , i hear bismark is being groomed for captaincy
Was there ever any doubt?
John Smith is probably the finest captain SA has ever had.
There has been quite a lot of critisism about John Smit’s rugby… but no critisism about his role as good captain.
So, whilst I agree on his absolute inclusion in the team and as captain, the main focus now must be to get your captain to play his best rugby ever…. and the only way to do this is to let him specialize in 1 position only.
Let’s look critically at all 3 positions he has played this year….
One can make a strong argument that there are better Looseheads around than John….. Gruthro and Beat and possibly a Cheetah or 2, hell even Wikus Blaauw.
At hooker SA is blessed at the moment, with my Ranking purely as hookers (for their play, not captaincy as well) as follows: Tiaan Liebenberg, Gary Botha, Deon Fourie, Adriaan Strauss and then John Smit.
At Tighthead John Smith is solid to maybe a bit undercooked. To my mind it was clearly seen late last year that BJ Botha is SA’s prime tighthead, with the 2 much improved tightheads in Brok Harris and Werner Kruger also making the grade before John Smit as a pure tighthead.
So what’s the answer…. I say it’s a toss-up whether you now specialize John Smit at Loosehead or at hooker…. and I must say, I favour Loosehead a bit more because John has also not exactly been the best line-out thrower around, has he? There is also a longer list of very able hookers waiting to get their opportunity than the list of looseheads!
“John and I are big friends and have played with and under one another”
Sies man!
Is tightheads not normally short stocky fellas? Smit is very tall.
smit is no taller then jannie
i dont agree with that fact that john should be behind other hookers as he has not been playing hooker
with his bulk for playing prop he of course has lost speed,
throwing in is a problem ? there i dissagree totally
and infact he as a player that was prepared to play where ever south africa needed him is the one thats being punnished for it
like F steyn was and ruan and i am sure others to follow
if john smit was left to play hooker i am sure he even now would have been the best hooker in this country
Full Name Jan Nathaniel
Surname du Plessis
Height 188
Weight 120
John William
Surname Smit
Height 188
Weight 125
Well spotted sharky
Nathaniel nogal! hahah
😆 onerb
South African coaches are destroying careers by all this playing of players out of position
had john smit been allowed to play one position i would agree with rudi’s assesment
Wherever they play him he needs to be in the side,at either 1 or 2 but not 3,he is too tall to play 3 and a short tight head can get under him. Like Ben Robinson from Australia.
You pick your captain first, and then the rest of the team.
amen morne
10 – Sharky, John should have been left to play Hooker, he would have been the best there. Still though he is the best scrummaging hooker in this country maybe in world rugby. Still time to just play him there.
He looks like he has lost weight, not as big as he was at the start of the S14. Looks to me he has lost about 8kg. He seems fitter too.
WE need John for wc 2011. PdV will never go without John. Read plenty what PdV has said about John and it is all very good. He rates John highly as a captain. He will never make the same mistake that Mallett did in wc 1999 and drop his captain. PdV too smart for that.
18 – Morne, agree 100%
2 – Sharky……hehehehe. Yip this is a good article.
10@ Tjarkie – Read carefully what I said… I believe John should be Bokke Captain….
BUT surely you cannot argue that he’s been the best Hooker in SA this year…. based on a few things:
1) The way OTHER hookers have shone and added extra value to their respective franchises
2) The mere fact that he has not played much at hooker
3) The fact that the Sharks line-outs have been a problem all season
Then surely also you cannot argue that he’s been the stand-out loosehead in SA this year either… that honour must surely go to Gurthro Steenkamp.
What I am saying is… he is absolutely necessary in the Bokke…. but at the same time that he must now be specialized in 1 position, my preference would be for him to be loosehead, due to the abundance of great hookers in SA and due to the fact that I think tighthead does not suit him well enough.
GBS,
Agreed.
However, and many will differ, I still rate him the best hooker but it is a point difficult to argue from my side since he has hardly played there in 2 years.
Is John Smit still ‘Twittering’?
Wonder if he has told his twitter followers which numbered shirt he would like to wear at the 2011 RWC
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