Boks ponder Smit’s role against Ireland

SOUTH AFRICA captain John Smit may return to the middle of the front row for his side’s visit to Dublin to take on Ireland next weekend.

Boks coach Peter de Villiers has attempted to convert the Sharks man into a world-class tighthead prop in order to extend his career to include the 2011 World Cup, but the conversion hasn’t been without its problems.

Smit moved to hooker for the final quarter of the Boks’ 32-10 win over Italy in Udine, with BJ Botha taking his place at tighthead, and the move significantly steadied a Bok scrum that had been given a tough afternoon by the Italian forward unit.