100th cap raise a glass to John Smit for Sat

South Africa vs new Zealand – FNB Stadium, Soweto – 21 August 2010

Springbok captain John Smit is set to become only the second South African to play in 100 Test matches when he leads the Boks onto the field at the FNB Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.

This will be the first Test match at this venue since the stadium’s completion in 1988. For the duration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament the stadium was known as SoccerCity.

This test will be the 81st between South Africa and New Zealand and the 34th Vodacom Tri-Nations test between them.

South Africa’s Vodacom Tri-Nations record against New Zealand is: Played 33; Won 10; Lost 23. Tries scored 60 and tries conceded 84.

John Smit will play his 100th test match for South Africa, of which 74 would be as captain. 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. John will be playing in his 26th Vodacom Tri-Nations test as captain, the most capped captain in the tournament.

The pic was taken last year by my great mate Mike Greenaway in Bloem after the blacks got smashed and the boks became the number 1 team in the world .