....than Liebenburg, Fourie and Burden. Bring him back.....Jake would. This isn't a long term action, just for this year in the absence of Bismarck. And make him the forward captain, the whole thing is proving too much for Bekker.
As much as I like John, his time has passed and we need to move on. Fourie and Burden might be too light, but there is still (Mako, Chilli....I know, I know I scraping the barrel here...but...) and we can always ask Brits for a quick cameo if there are more injuries.
Smit is past his expiry date. Playing-wise he was for the last two years of his Bok career - many would say longer
Unfortunately, There's only so much you can do with injuries, and Bringing back Smit is not the answer.
Well with Schalk, Spies, Juan and Bismarck gone with injuries.....and John, Bakkies, Victor and Danie not available......we have a huge experience gap. There is no forward leader. And let's be honest every available hooker is a huge step down.
So this is a crisis, not for the long term.....but for this year. So rather than abandon ship on the year, I'd bring back John if possible.
Hell it's not like any of the alternatives including Strauss have a prayer of being our established hooker. So you give up nothing in terms of player development and save the year possibly. We desperately need a leader.
Can I love the way you motivate your positions "bringing back John is not the answer". Says who? Some guy who chooses a bag man with a beard as his persona?
I might as well tell you now so you don't waste anymore of your time, some guy on the internet trying to make fun of me isn't going to work, Moz. Especially my avatar. Really? That's what you got? If you would like to discuss the problem, I'm all ears.
As others have agreed with me, he is not the answer. He's past his due date. Your leadership argument is a good one, but do you really believe he can even compete out there?
Sure if he is not in rugby shape, this doesn't work. But I assume he is. Getting ready for the NH season. And he was solid at the RWC....so I don't see why he shouldn't be up to it. I can't think of one available player who would make bigger difference at this stage than a 2011 vintage Smit.
bring back smit??? o_O i love the All Blacks dominating more then the next one eyed kiwi but WTF??? if meyer brings back smit for the Boks, i dont think i would be able to enjoy the All Blacks victory as much, i would actually feel like a bully, lol, :P
what is wrong with a strauss??? oneof the form hookers of the spXV, had decent appearances in the england test series, had a fantastic game against the pumas in newlands and while he was quiet last weekend, the whole bloody team was, while the pumas rolled up their sleeves and came to play.
i reckon give a strauss a chance and he will prove he more then deserves a place, given the infinite chances that meyers bum boy morne continously mangaes to pull out his ass, if strauss was given a fair go he would prove all his detractors wrong.
as for his backup, what does deon fourie have to do to prove himslef, obviously being in form dosent mean jack, especially when the likes of spies and chilliboy were only out due to injury, pfffft, what a joke.
I think John Smit is happy with his new role in the Sky Sports Studio. As he is playing in England now, he is also available to speak crap with the English commentators.
I would expect John will gets lots of oppertunity in the studio. Much better than Thenus Delport who has nothing interesting to say, and for Sky he is a much higher profile analyst than Thenus Delport.
I don't know, Moz. Eventually the team, and player have to move on. You're basically saying he is the 3rd best SA Hooker right now. I think Strauss and Fourie can prove you wrong. Give them a chance. I think Leadership is all Smit could bring to the table, which would maybe give Beast and Jannie a kick in the ass, but I don't think he would be able to keep up, especially against the AB's.
Have to agree with Can here, Smit is way past test rugby condition and against number 1 & 2 teams in the world, he'd be slaughtered. Nobody will ever doubt his leadership and I hope Smit comes back to SA to be a rugby coach, because I think he is a wonderful inspirer and motivator of men, that's his gift.
He has put on to much weight now to get him to match fitness for the 4 nations speed and tempo. He has been offered as role in the new Austin Powers movie.
John was terrible all through 2011, everytime Bismark came on the field there was an improvement.
As a player: Bissie should have played every game and John should have been sent on his way.
As a captain: He was a fantastic insparation for the nation and I think PDV wanted to give him one more shot.
the real problem is gentleman we seem to lack in that area with experience. it takes time and years to replace the kind of rugby IQ that smit has. if he is still up to play is a matter all on its own. if he was still on decent enough level by all means but i am in now position to comment on his level of rugby.
i still believe if he is good enough he is old enough. maybe he can offer some advice and mentorship to the more junior players maybe in a more management role. i dont know really. i miss more his leadership i feel more than anything else and there is no clear captain to replace him.
schalk is not captain material and JDV wont make it to the next rwc so we need to choose a long term captain quickly and let him mold into the postion as quickly as possible.
juan smith was a world class leader but he injury and the current status makes him a no go. to me he is the real makoy in terms of leadership
Mozart is right. Bring back Smit. At the same time, maybe we can see what Honiball, Joost, Teichmann, Schalk snr, James Small are up to and we are a bit thin at fullback so we should probably get Andre Joubert back in the game..
Be real, John Smit wasn't good enough 3 years ago!! Bismarck should have already notched up plenty more caps in the 2 jersey!!!
i would not mind some of those players in management though. a andre joubert can do alot of traning with some of our 15's
Ha ha muncher, in a perfect world maybe. That is what the AB's would do, its too logical for the bok set up though. Our greats like Joubert and Joost are no where to be seen but we have loubscher (who wishes he had 1/4 Joubert's rugby brain and skill) in the set up...It ridiculous.
Liebenberg and Stauss are the two to pick and he has. Liebenberg should start.
Well donme Meyer for getting it right.
With all respect to the good Dr Moz but Smit was over the hill some years ago!
hahah @ boklogic yeah we are stuck with the likes of ricardo wow i feel so at ease (sarcasm)
old joubert was just pure class. the likes we have never seen ever again. he was still part of the rugby system that produced thinking players. not like the ultra robotic peterson of the stormers and zane.
Good call Moz
Thanks Dave, it's good to see you resisting the sarc of Bokillogic and all the other in the box thinkers. After all Jake brought back Os and Monty, and won the RWC.
They got rid of the old boys at Eskom and brought in the youngsters ....how did that work out for you?
I have no issue bringing back an old player if he is better than the options we have. Smit is better than Liebenberg for certain, so would have made sense playing him off the bench. Strauss to start with Smit on the bench.
I have an issue with the likes of Jean playing ahead of JJ and Jordaan. I would not have recalled Monty or Os, we had better youngsters available at the time
Mozart, the difference between Monty and Os vs John Smit is that Monty and Os were greats. Smit is a great captain. Thats it and thats not enough. How many tackles did he miss? Proof was in the pudding when they shifted him to prop to try "hide" him and he was exposed there. When people here in NZ speak about Bismarck, they talk about what a freak he is, when they talk about Smit, there is no fizz. Common sentence is, "He was a good captain!" Thats not enough right now. Captain needs time with a team to gain their trust. Half these new guys dont know him!
Bismarck never misses tackles and certainly not as easy as John Smit did. His slipped tackle on Nonu (not a hard one to make) lost the Boks that match when he broke up field (with one boot on too) and put Dagg away... That was just one of many stuff ups. People were calling for his head way before the 2011 WC and now you wana bring him back in 2012. The best hooker in the world wore number 16 at a WC...Ludicrous!!! He would have been an 80 min number 2 in any other team in the world...
John Smit will offer no more than the guys we have there right now!
Illogic Nobody is saying smit is a better hooker than Bismarck right now. But Bis is gone for the season which looks like its going pear shaped. Strauss is barely test level....Liebenburg is a penalty machine.....the pack is leaderless.
All I'm saying is, if Smit is still match fit, I'd bring him back for a limited stint. Not for next year or even the YE tour. Comprende?
@mozart,
i agree that smits performance in the RWC was decent, but IMO that was because when compared with his performance over the last 3 years, an empty bag of chips would of had a godd performance too.
adrian strauss is more of a hooker now then smit wat the last 3 years, i dont see how u would be so willing to give smit another chance and not strauss. experience is an issue, but playing smit would also mean someone loses a chance at getting experience.
IMO the negatives from smit as a player far outweighs his positives as an experienced player.
That is the most stupid kak I have ever heard Mozart. What good is it going to do for Strauss and Liebenberg's confidence to be cast aside for a guy who has no future with the team.
How do you become experienced and better?? By playing at the highest level so why would u bring a "filler" in instead of give the "future" more game time. Its not like John Smit is that good anyway. Strauss is probably better anyhow.
Let me try again. Neither Liebenburg or Strauss are our future at hooker. Experience would be wasted on these guys. Smit provides gravitas and believability to our cause. I think he is a better player than either of these chappies......and he is the one player who could turn around this mess.
But let's chat again after our away leg. I get the sense things might be a little clearer then, even if its hopelessly too late.
