John Smit: Leading SA to glory or hooking them to Oblivion

Short and sweet - John Smit is a long way from the player he was. Bismark du Plessis is far and away a better hooker - and imo the best hooker at the World Cup. With experienced players throughout the SA side can they afford to play Smit just because of his leadership?

Last night on Masterplan new zealand on Supersport that question was asked to a panel of coaches.

John Mitchell
Allistair coetzee
Heineke meyer.

The answer was an emphatic, "play bismarck" and "john smit must not play prop"

Play Bismarck with JS on the bench, he can influence from there

Sometimes I think PDV is going to pull a "surprise" rabbit out of the hat by putting Smit on the bench for the QF vs. Aus but I think I'm giving him too much credit.

No one would be surprised if it happened but it just won't.

Smit starting vs. Aus allow Aus' pack to be competitive and not on the backfoot.... dangerous as Pocock will then be able to compete for the turnovers and it also allows Cooper to unleash his backline.
Smit isn't a bad player but he weakens the scrum, is a defensive liability and can't cover the ground like Bismaarck.

Play Bismaarck and they just won't get that forward momentum required.

Aus always suffers when they play a team that is big upfront... by playing Smit they are neutralising one of their natural advantages.

Its pride more then anything concerning PDV.

I think its the easiest question around...play Bismark.

Sounds like we are signing an overhill Springbok captain for a large salary.

Brilliant! Especially as we have strong cover there.

Henry swallowed his pride and put Dagg on for Muliaina. I recall not advocating the move because of Muliaina´s experience and solidity. That gamble paid off though and I´m very happy to have been proven wrong.

Smit offers leadership and experience and can be a go to man in the loose for getting yards or scoring tries. But everyone seems unanimous that Bismark is the better all round player and as has been mentioned can be destructive up front.

If PDV does swallow his pride, does he give the captaincy to a guy like Victor Matfield? Or is he convinced that Bismark is a super sub who can be destructive at the end of a game (not an opinion I share. You want your best players on the field starting a game)? I think the captaincy issue makes this an even tougher call. If you´ve brought the guy this far, you think he´ll stick with his captain to the end. If he were just your regular player then he´d probably get the boot.

How about this

John Smit: leading SA to a BP loss v samoa to ensure a significantlty easier route to the final

I am starting to wonder about you. Masochist by any chance?

The best thing for SA rugby is to play Smit at either hooker or prop...you won't win this world cup but you need PdV to go, therefore if he makes some unforgivable selections and you lose then SA will get a better coach and will be a better team for it...if you get to the final then you may be stuck with that wassock for another 4 years.

biltongbek wrote:I am starting to wonder about you. Masochist by any chance?

10/10...welsh fan, you learn to love pain

well let me give you this to ponder over.

what did the sadist say to the maochist when the masochist begged him to punish him?

biltongbek wrote:well let me give you this to ponder over.

what did the sadist say to the maochist when the masochist begged him to punish him?

statistically or just a plain answer?

just a plain answer.

biltongbek wrote:just a plain answer.

mmmm thought about it for a few hours, nearly sank my boat in the bay and have decided the answer is

2.786 recurring

i guess the straight answer is that the sadist refused?

Don't play Bismark, for no other reason that it is suitable punishment for having the most ridiculous name.

Smit has already led them to glory. However that was 4 years ago and he is now an inferior player to Bismark du Plessis.

Obvious one really. Play Du Pleiss against Australia and NZ and then Smit against Ireland in the final

Rodders

Surely you want PDV to pick Smit at prop for the final, where he's simply not an international class player (or perhaps he could be selected at scrum half - could make even Bergomasco look good ).

Of course most Saracens fans would argue that Smit isn't even the second best hooker the Boks could have picked - imagine starting with Turpitz du Plessis and bringing Schalk Brits off the bench for the last 15-20 minutes?

Yeah, we do have a lot of classy or upmarket hookers in SA don't we.

they don't come cheap

are smit and bismarck the only decent hookers around for south africa?

Kind of think SA have it backwards. Bring on the best hooker in the world to start, then when people are tired or if the chips are down bring on the guy that has more mana than anyone in the SA team. He'd give a physical and spiritual lift to the players if need be. Though I don't agree with subbing just for the sake of it as valuable momentum can be lost.

I think Chiliboy Rallepelle isn't actually that bad a player either.

biltongbek wrote:Yeah, we do have a lot of classy or upmarket hookers in SA don't we.

they don't come cheap

As much as I respect the SA hookers Biltong, none compare to A Hore from NZ.

Yup-A Hore is a dairy farmer from what I recall though so that white liquid that he loves and deals in so much might not be what you assume it is.

You guys