Smit ready to silence the doubters again

IT HAS taken John Smit the best part of four years but, finally, at the tail-end of his Springbok career, he has been able to silence the voices that dissented from his right to be in the team.

If his team should beat Argentina tomorrow night — and particularly if the Springboks go on to win the title in a week’s time — he will pass into that state of grace reserved for former South African state presidents, where his every word will resonate with the wisdom of a latter-day Solomon.

Yet as recently as the start of this season, he faced an ongoing battle to convince a doubting public that he was a good enough player to be in the team.

“I’d be a fool and ignorant if I didn’t realise that I face a battle,” he said. “South Africa has a lot of good hookers and I’m just glad that I’m not the one having to make the choice.”

That man has been Jake White. He began his association with Smit when the player was an outstanding prop for his Pretoria school and they were formally joined for the first time in 1999 when White was assistant coach to the Smit-captained side that won the forerunner to the IRB U-21 World Championship in Buenos Aires.

White suggested that Smit move to hooker after the tournament and a year later the 21-year-old made his debut as a replacement No 2 against Canada — his adrenalin-fuelled first throw fizzing over the top of the lineout.

In 2004 Smit was named as Springbok captain two months before White named his first team — against Ireland in Bloemfontein — and the coach has never regretted it.

“It’s not even debatable who has been the most valuable player to me over the last four years — it’s got to be John Smit,” says White. “If we win the World Cup, the first man I am going to thank is John Smit.”

Many couldn’t believe White stood by Smit as hookers such as Gary Botha, Schalk Brits and Bismarck du Plessis rose to prominence. All are quicker than Smit and more explosive with ball in hand but it’s not a fair comparison, says Smit. “People criticise me for not side-stepping and running 40 metres to score,” he says. “I’m not that type of hooker — I’m a tighter hooker and do my work closer to the breakdown.”

He is also now South Africa’s most capped captain, having led the side on 46 occasions — 42 consecutively until his injury in this year’s Tri-Nations. He has left the records of Francois Pienaar (29) far behind.

“It’s not something I ever dreamt of — to hold all those records. It seems only yesterday I was carrying tackle bags and doing what I could to appease senior guys and make sure they didn’t shout at me. Maybe in five or six years I’ll sit down and think, ‘Jeez, that was a helluva ride’.”

Smit is an English-speaking South African from the Afrikaans-speaking Northern Province and went to an English-speaking school in the capital of Afrikaans rugby in Pretoria. He was an outstanding schoolboy player but when the Blue Bulls showed no interest in him he joined the Sharks in Durban.

He made his Super 12 debut as an 18-year-old prop and would probably be sailing towards a century of caps (rather than his 73rd) but for shoulder injuries in 2002 and 2003.

He returned to make the 2003 World Cup squad — although that campaign — blighted by allegations of racism and featuring the notorious Kamp Staaldraad — is light years from where the Springboks stand now.

“The personalities in the squad are the same but we’ve changed our approach and the way we see ourselves. We believe we can beat any team.

“We have a week to make the dream we had for four years come alive but one slip and it could all crumble away. But this team is resolute, we know how important this final week is.”