A true great of the game

John Smit is set to play his 100th test for the Springboks this weekend, when he takes the field to face the All Blacks. He will become only the second Springbok, after Percy Montgomery, to accomplish this milestone. Smit will go down in the history book as one of the greatest Springboks, and certainly the greatest Springbok captain of all time.

Although he has come under fire in recent weeks regarding his fitness, let’s not forget all that he has accomplished, and what it has meant to us as proud Springbok fans

Smit made his Springbok debut at the age of 22 in 2000, when South Africa beat Canada 51-18 at Basil Kenyon Stadium in East London. He is the most capped test captain of all time, and has had a decade long test career, which has seen him set numerous records in the Green and Gold.

Between October 2003 and June 2007, Smit played in a record 46 consecutive Test matches for South Africa. His record-breaking sequence of appearances came to an abrupt end with South Africa’s first match of the 2007 Tri Nations, against Australia, when he suffered an injury that prevented him taking any further part in the tournament.

Luckily for the Springboks, Smit recovered from his injury in time to take part in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, in which he started in 6 out of 7 South African matches and where his inspirational leadership qualities as his “calm under pressure” attitude played a massive role in allowing the Springboks to lift the William Web Ellis Trophy for the second time.

The accolades didn’t stop there though, in 2009, John Smit led South Africa to a series victory against the visiting British and Irish Lions, and followed this by leading his team to success in the 2009 Tri Nations, in which South Africa won five of their six matches, including a clean sweep of three wins against New Zealand.

John Smit has also lead the Springboks to a record number of test wins as captain, reaching 50 test wins as captain, a figure that has seem him win more Tests as captain than any other Springbok has played as captain.

John Smit smashes Brad Thorn: [trinations2009]

Aaah, revenge, how sweet the sound…!

Records and honours:

  • John Smit will play his 100th test match for South Africa, of which 74 would be as captain, a world record.
  • Should John score a try, he will equal the Springbok record for most tries in tests as a hooker. The current record is jointly held by James Dalton and Bismarck du Plessis with five career tries. (By my calculation Smit has scored 6 test tries to date)
  • John will be playing in his 26th Vodacom Tri-Nations test as captain, the most capped captain in the tournament.SA Young Player of the Year nominee, 1999Tri-Nations winner, 2004 & 2009
  • Players’ Player of the Year, 2009
  • Captain of the World Cup winning Springbok squad, 2007
  • Currie Cup winner with the Sharks, 2008
  • British & Irish Lions series winner, 2009
  • SA Player of the Year nominee, 2009
  • Holds Springbok records for most capped captain (74), most capped hooker (86), most capped forward (99) and most consecutive Test matches (46)