Few are more qualified in SA rugby to give Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus advice about giving the Boks the best chance of winning their third William Webb Ellis title than John Smit.
The World Cup-winning captain has recently sung the old tune of experience, saying stalwarts Bismarck du Plessis and Frans Steyn could add value to the team this year.
The two veterans would indeed offer a wide range of variety in their respective positions.
“I still think they can add value, but both currently play at a club not eager to make its players available. However, I think there will definitely be opportunities for them to play this year,” Smit said at a function in Stellenbosch recently.
“The question is whether their club will allow them to play and if Rassie wants to use them. But I can’t see why he wouldn’t want that sort of experience at his disposal. You saw what Frans meant for us in 2007,” Smit added, referring to South Africa’s World Cup triumph in France in 2007.
Du Plessis (34) boasts 79 Tests, but last played for the Boks at the 2015 World Cup in England, while the 31-year-old Steyn played the last of his 56 Tests against France in Johannesburg in June 2017.
With the former cut from the same cloth with incumbent Bok hooker Malcolm Marx: burly built, strong on their feet and can ‘fetch’ better than some openside flankers during breakdown play, it would be a case of minus one problem for the hooker position. Bongi Mbonambi could join the party to make up for the two’s shaky line-out throwing.
Erasmus’ usual centre pairing in his largely successful season last year consisted of Damian de Allende at 12 and Jesse Kriel at 13.
No disrespect meant towards Kriel, but the Boks stand a better chance of succeeding with Steyn at 13.
It’s about giving the national rugby team the best possible chance to succeed after all, and not about rewarding players. Form is temporary, talent and experience is permanent: not to mention that both players in question, like Smit, are World Cup winners themselves.
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