South Africa, and the captaincy.

Evening all. I didn't watch South Africa vs Australia. But having read the various match reports and comments made it is clear that Smit, fantastic captain that he is, is severly limiting this team.
He needs to be dropped, needs to a bench player.
In my opinion, Matfield needs to be captain. When he captained last year when Smit was injured he was an incredible captain. Remember the last time South Africa came to twickenham? One of the most assertive and physical South African performances seen in years.
Also, I forget the game but just before half term with South Africa trailing behind, Matfield recieves the ball, chips, and scores.
He's one of the most experienced players in the world, he knows how to win games.
PDV needs to make him captain as soon as possible, otherwise South Africa are going to be shown up this world cup.

I agree. Smit needs to be near the squad to unify it, but the skipper should be certain of a place in the top team. Bismarck is the best 2 in the world so it's folly in my opinion.

The biggest reason why many people, south africans included feel that smit is under performing is due to the fact that PDv keeps on putting him at prop. It is grossly unfair of him to expect Smit to handle that.

Being a prop or a hooker are two totally different skillsets and therefor you need different physical attibutes, smit can't be mobile enough because he has to bulk up for prop, and can't be strong enough to be prop because he has to be mobile as well.

Keep him at hooker and I am fine with that, he is accurate at line outs and good at scrums as hooker, but not prop.

After the game the South African tv crew interviwed the "captains' First Rocky elsom , then Victor Matfield...

Very good point Biltongbek, They are both hugely demanding positions. I can understand the need for leadership in a team, even more so in a high pressure tournement like the world cup. But the springbok squad is filled with experience, 810 caps in the team last week. Smit is a squad/bench player at best now.

When did the old sporting philosophy of 'the captain should be one of the first players on the teamsheet' disappear?

I can't think of the last team where the captain of a team was at best the 3rd best player in his position for his team... Perhaps Phil De Glanville when he was England Captain for a season or two.

I myself would have liked Fioure Du Preez to be made Captain but seeing that this would be unlikely I would go for Matfield as he's going to start, is a very important player and has been vice-captain for the last few years.

Bismaarck is the worlds best hooker, no question. Keeping a man like him who thrives on the breakdown is madness... he's the ultimate test match player.

Fa NZ had Todd Blackadder for a bit-same problem there. The fact that Bismarck is the world's best hooker is the conundrum, if there was merely a better player then maybe that could be ok but the world's best? Not smart to me.

WYea especially putting a hooker at prop halfway through a game. Whats that about? he will have been stuffed aerobically from his hooker role as know hookers dont do as much physical work in the scrums so can get around a lot more in the loose.
Then switch to prop? geez.

The problem came about when Bismaarck emerged...

PDV found a solution, Smit at tighthead... so he put on at least 2st and for a time he was not a complete liability.
Plumtree though played him mainly as a hooker at the sharks and then PDV decided to put him back in as primarily a hooker last year... forcing him to shed the weight he gained.... he hasn't fully been able to do this though.

He's too immobile for a hooker, too weak & not bulky enough for a tighthead.... also he still lacks the skills required for a tighthead... before he converted at test level I think he last played prop at school/university level.

Ok. Just insane. Oz shunted them back and not long after smit gets tendons ripped from his elbow was it?
Bet he wont play there again against 3N..just goes on and on doesnt it.
In fact im surprised SA manage to win matches. Only the standard and not even the best of it keeping them afloat.
Anyway. Wats your pick this week. Im back on more familiar territory with the abs but will wait for the teams but im counting on our young albeit injured backs carving up the 4 tries needed for the title.

After last weeks match pace out wide is the most obvious tactic looking at the tiring pack. Only so much you can do in one week, and last week was the result of several.

And theyll love the hard ground after the cold of nz.

http://rugby.opticon.hu/meccsek/110813HrNemz-Del-Afr-Ausztr.avi

Here is a download link to the game if anyone hasn't seen it yet.

Mark Ellis on last nights Crowd goes wild:

"what parent calls their kid Bismaarck?"

I am not sure what Smit wrong when he was at Hooker. Was good at the breakdown, with th ball in hand, and tackling in defense. His line out throws were fine. When moved to prop he was not terribly good. But he shouldn't be at prop.

aucklandlaurie

With a name like Bismaarck he was never going to be a silky winger was he!

Certainly adds a little steel to his persona.

doctor_grey

He didn't have a terrible game as hooker last week but that doesn't mean he should be in the side.....

Bismaarck is the worlds best hooker... well above any contender IMO and even Chilliboy is a better alternative at the moment.

Smit has been notably caught out many times in defence over the last 2 seasons.... often due to miss tackles such as the Soweto AB test & the latest 3N away match to Aus when Genia just breezed past him at the kickoff.

You can't expect him to chase down a back these days but I tell you one thing... Bismaarck would never had missed those tackles... he would have been rubbing Genia's face in the mud within seconds of Genia going for the break.

Isn't Matfield getting on though? Surely you need a long term choice for the captaincy.

Does anyone think Smit can still make an impact in Europe or as he completely gone off the boil?

Still can't understand why South Africa don't want Schalk Brits. Can anyone explain why?

I think the boks just needs a skipper for the RWC, after can worry about it. So Matfield I think is the logical choice, seeing he already skipper the Bulls

I think if Smit can lose maybe 5-10 kg in weight I think he can play S15/HC level rugby for another couple of seasons.

The problem for Brits is that he isn't up to standard at the scrum.... the GP is fine as firstly he has a big pack next to him to counter his lack of bulk & power but it is a couple of levels down from test rugby, packs are a lot smaller (maybe 50-80kg from a test scrum) and the GP is only Currie Cup standard.

You never saw Brits do the things he's done for Saracens whilst he was at the Stormers & WP because in all honesty its one notch down in terms of the players he was facing.
He was always a good player and should not have been left unused by SA but Bismaarck is far superior.

I agree with OzT though... the captaincy is just a shortterm RWC fix.... give it to someone who will feature in all games (important ones), is a senior player, respected and has experience.... only person really is Matfield.

They aren't going to change anything boys.

Puff diddy, John Smit, and the antiquated gameplan are all here to stay until the end of the year.

I damn well hope only till then!

biltongbek

Probably right as painful as it may well be.

Who would you have as captain once the RWC is over?

When I look at the current side with Matfield, Du Preez, Smit all retiring post RWC there is a leadership gap for sure.

Potentially Bismaarck or Schalk Burger... but will he be able to take the boks up to the next RWC?

I would think along the lines of who will still be around for the next RWC. That continuity is important.

I would think between, Andries Bekker, Heinrich Brussouw, Francois hougaard, Patrick Lambie, and Jaque Fourie.

fa0019 I think you are seriously overstating the importance of the scrum. Brits has improved in the setpiece. His scrummaging has improved. Also his throwing in the lineout is now very good.

He has that X factor that teams could really use. Also if you know he is a danger it opens up opportunities for others to shine. He has the pace and agility that no other hooker offers.

On name basis alone Bismarck should be first pick against the French every time

Could you not have J Fourie (sp?) your brilliant centre as captain? He's experienced, not too old (late 20's?) first choice in his position and plays to the new style that you guys kind of want to embrace.

Yappy, yes, he has the seniority in the team, and loads of experience.

Fourie would also be a great captain come to think off it.

I get the points about Smit made above. But I guess this discussion is somewhat academic. The Boks management is not going to change captain now. Isn't Matfield the captain when Smit goes off at the 55 - 60 minute mark? So for the rest of the RWC, the seccnd captain is already there.

Myquestion which might make this more meaningful, is what is the actual injury Smit sustained? How severe? This is only hearsay, but someone told me he had a muscle torn from the bone in his right arm? Is this correct? If so, he could easily re-injure and be out a long time.

beshocked

Like I said before... you can't judge Brits on his GP performance.... when he was in SA he was one of the better players yes... but he got outmuscled.... all the time.
The GP is not S15 level let alone test. Its one notch below... around Currie Cup, ML & Air NZ Cup (or whatever its called now).

In the S15 he didn't get the space and gaps to do his massive runs and henceforth.. his impact was much less.
A hookers job is to be a front 5 forward predominately... everything else is a bonus... if he can't compete with the basics then it messes up the whole framework of the team.

Did Brits get any gametime when he was injury cover recently?

No