Juan Smith
Experienced international forward Juan Smith has been drafted into the Springbok squad preparing for The Rugby Championship.
Smith was a Rugby World Cup winner in 2007 and boasts 69 Test caps. He will join the squad in Johannesburg as replacement following confirmation that Victor Matfield will miss the opening Test of The Rugby Championship against Argentina in Pretoria on Saturday 16 August.
“Our need at this stage is to draft in a player who can cover lock and loose forward, and we feel Juan is the right man for the job,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“He has played lock before in his career and won an Under 21 World Cup in that position, but he also covers flank and No 8.
“I spoke to him on various occasions and he’s comfortable with playing in the second row again if the need arises. However, as a number of our loose forwards have had a very high work load this season, it’s good to have someone such as Juan who can also provide cover in those positions.”
“Furthermore he is a brilliant exponent in the lineouts and will bring experience and leadership to the squad. We wanted to involve him in June as I really want to work with him, but he was not 100% fit and asked not to be considered.
“Juan has been in sublime form and recently won the very tough French Top 14 league and the Heineken Cup with Toulon. I’ve always held him in very high esteem and I know he will add value to our squad.”
Smith will join the Springboks in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Juan Smith is a great player, but is HM’s Dad’s Army policy the way forward? Surely out 5 SR franchises there must be at least 1 player that can do what Meyer is asking of Smith? And will his heel stand up to the rigours of playing on the hard SA fields?
@ Lion4ever:
Agree, I understand HM places a high value on Smith as a player and person, but expecting him to possibly slot in at lock in a test is stretching it.
@ Lion4ever:
@ nortierd:
You guys are trying to be nice to the Boks coach or something?
😆
Or maybe it’s just a ploy to keep Kolisi out of the Tests 23? 😉
@ nortierd:
If we where on Keo, I would have told you really do not know much about rugby with that comment…. but we not, this is a friendly environment.
Juan had a great season at Toulon, and the value he will add behind the scenes will be priceless.
@ Tuff Gong:
Ha ha
I also think he will bring good value behind the scenes, but at lock, I have my reservations.
@ Tuff Gong:
@4
If on Keo I would have said groupies cannot be trusted to make a sound judgement on the value that their heroes will bring to teams but in this friendly environment i will only say that I do not share your opinion on Juan Smit’s inclusion in the Bok team.
@ nortierd:
Juan Smith is a replacement for Albert who will move to lock more than anything… quite insane that we have 3 huge locks injured, Flip, psdt and Vic
Smith would be a great choice for the bench as cover for lock and back row
@ robzim:
Rob if we all had the same opinion we would never enjoy this game.
And opinions change overnight.
Tuff Gong wrote:
For sure.
Personally I think HM is missing out on the opportunity to give a younger player exposure. The way things are developing now we might go into the world cup next year with too many players who are past their best ( Bakkies, Matfield, Schalk, du Preez, Fourie, Jean , Habana for example might all make it) and I just cannot see us winning the 2015 world cup with so many players who were in 2007 already at their peak.
Just my opinion though, maybe I am wrong, who knows.
Pity this Potgieter bloke who is playing for the Waratahs is not available.. he can also cover lock and flank and his kamikazi attitude might have come in handy against the Argies in particular.
@ robzim:
How old is Lood then? I thought he was kinda young.
Those 7 playyers you listed are the older generation for sure.
But for bakkies and Vic there is psdt, eben, lood and lewies part of the plans.
For Schalk there has been Botha, Kolisi, Alberts, Coetzee, Mohe who are all relatively young, even alberts.
For De Preez matfield has tried Piet van Zyl, Louis Schreuder, Hougaard and now Reinach who are all youngsters.
Mossie there has been Taute, JJ who are all youngsters who have been tried out and de allende who will likely get a chance now.
Jean was matched with Fransie and Serfonstein
Habana has cornal hendricks and mvovu, while basson etc has been tried out.
I honestly do not understand what you mean by “missing out on the opportunity to give a younger player exposure”
From my side he has given a lot of youngsters exposure… some just cant stay fit or have the mental strength to last.
He has been giving all the players who will go past even 2019 a shot.
du preez matfield = du preez, meyer* haha
@ MacroBull:
What I mean is that imo there are too many of the “older generation” who seems to be frontrunners to go to the world cup… in theory the 7 names mentioned might all start..
My concern is the same might happen to the Boks as what happened to Spain during the recent Football world cup…. at that level all it takes is for two or three pairs of “old legs” to suddenly run out of steam or to be a yard off the pace…. and then it is tickets..
Take Lood for example… why did Meyer wait so long before given him a chance and only did so when he was basically forced to do so?
@ robzim:
Because Eben and Flip was rightly ahead of him?
@ robzim:
I agree the “old men” could be a problem come the next world come as they could run out of steam, 100% with you, then again we also run the risk of many of our young stars being injured, which seems to happen quite too often. Especially long term injuries.
You are implying that no effort is being done to bring the younger generation through, which could not be further from the truth, if you think of, malherbe, scarra, coenie, psdt, lood, flip, eben, lewies, mohoje, kolisi, coetzee, botha, van zyl, Reinach, schreuder, Goose, Pollard, lambie, Serfontein, de allende, JJ, Hendricks, Le Roux.
Thats basically our team for the 2019 RWC then include maybe alberts, vermeulen, flip, strauss and other new players coming through who should also be available
It appears every opportunity is taken to give younger players exposure, surely?
15 @ MacroBull:
“malherbe, scarra, coenie, psdt, lood, flip, eben, lewies, mohoje, kolisi, coetzee, botha, van zyl, Reinach, schreuder, Goose, Pollard, lambie, Serfontein, de allende, JJ, Hendricks, Le Roux.”
All good and well MB that HM has blooded new players, whether by design or default due to injuries or non availability of overseas players, but do you think we will win a WC with these players you mentioned?
Our issue is injuries, especially the so called Wunder-Kids who have been earmarked to take over from the better senior players.
13 @ robzim:
“My concern is the same might happen to the Boks as what happened to Spain during the recent Football world cup…. at that level all it takes is for two or three pairs of “old legs” to suddenly run out of steam or to be a yard off the pace…. and then it is tickets..”
Excellent point and comparison.
We are going the Spain route where we should rather have learnt from the Germans
MacroBull wrote:
I think Lood only got an opportunity to show his mettle when Bakkies hurt his ankle against Wales and he then gave a 5 star performance showing that he belonged in the team in the first place. My point is HM should have trusted him to start the test ahead of veteran players who are unlikely to be up to speed against top flight opponents.
@ nortierd:
With what players will we then win the world cup?
@ robzim:
lood is an exceptional case of everyone jumping on the ship screaming “I told you so”. his performance was none more impressive but for the fact that he surprised everyone but heartened cheetah supporters. I mean be honest now.
You assuming this is generally what has happened tonthe boks the last two years. Who then was the senior player who kept the 21 year old etsebeth out? bakkies only joined the squad last year schalk burger and juan smith this year… all due to inuries sustained by prefered players.
the fact is… juan smith is in exceptional form. in better form than most fit players in sa from what we saw in the euro finals.
juan smith is also a year younger than mccaw.
2 years younger than mealamu
same age as crockett
just a year older than Conrad smith, nonu and dan carter.
19 @ MacroBull:
Not expecting us to win the WC.
Whether he plays the older guys or the young ones you refer to, I’m doubtful that either of the two options will have what it takes to be successful.
Those names you gave all got serious carrots in the SR and it’s clear that the NZ and Aus players are superior to them.
The older guys have the experience, but it’s not like we have moved on to much and we have problems in key areas, eg nr 9 and 10, as we saw now with FdP injured, no decent back up.
Morne is solid, but after him we are also thin on 10.
The AB’s can afford to lose Carter because they have Barret, Slade and Cruden as back up, all three of which is streets better than Lambie or Pollard and Goosen.
average age per squad…
Aus (26yo)
NZ (26.8)
SA (27.5)
We are definitely, but by enough to make a fuss?
Aus has 19 x (20-25yo)… 14 x (26-30yo) and 2 x (31+yo.)
NZ has 14 x (20-25)… 10 x (26-30)… 9 x (31+)
SA has 12 x (20-25)… 11 x (26-30)… 8 x (31+)
these stats could be easily manipulated as you could possibly include in the previous or next group. I incleded them with the younger group, but ill include the stats.
Aus (8 x 25yo)… (3 x 30yo)
NA (4)…………….. (2)
SA. (1)…………….. (4)
It appears we are pretty much on par with nz, though our average will come down when players like botha and psdt are fit when older players make way for them.
@ nortierd:
Exactly… its super easy to say, “oh we will never win the world cup with those players” when there there isnt really anyone else…then against it appears our only challenge is nz and aus… who could also trip up against other teams.
Australia are also extremely dependant on folau…
@ MacroBull:
Can we really compare the Euro competitions to Super rugby and rugby in the Southern hemisphere (top 3 teams in the world) in general? I doubt whether many of the veteran big name players in that league will be able to handle the pace and intensity of Southern Hemisphere rugby.
Of the players you mentioned even Richie McCaw, who is arguably the best loose forward to ever play the game, is no longer the factor he used to be and next year’s world cup might be one step too far for him. Conrad Smith and Dan Carter also appear to spend more and more time out injured these days and even they might struggle to make it through to the world cup.
But let see how Juan and the other “outoppies” go.. maybe they surprise me.
But keep an eye on England and Australia for next year’s world cup……
@ robzim:
Exactly. we cant really compare.
but toulon would have clapped any sa team six love this year if you ask me.
@ MacroBull:
these stats could be easily manipulated as you could possibly include 25 YEAR OLDS AND 30 YEAR OLDS in the previous or next group. I inclUded them with the younger group, but ill include the how many BORDERLINE CASES THERE WERE.*
@ nortierd:
Also if you take Aaron Smith and Read out of the All Black team, it will set the team on quite a different coarse…
@ MacroBull:
We compare well with the ages of the AB’s and Wallabies, but I’m still convinced that on the playing field they are ahead of us regarding skills.
As Rob said, McCaw may not be the force he was, but they can always call on Todd and they will lose nothing.
McCaw is there for his leadership, similar to Jean with us.
The Aussies are doing it better than both the Boks and AB’s, in Hooper they have a young guy who others will follow, and is the best in his position at the moment.
Let’s see what happens, but somehow I’ve lost a lot of confidence in what is currently happening with the Bokke. I could understand bringing back one or two 2007 WC winners, for back up and to assist the younger guys with advise etc., but now it’s getting to the point where almost every 2007 winner who can still walk or run is being called back, and the majority of key players from overseas must be called in, simply because, as we see in the SR, the current crop playing here sucks
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