Eve of Bok depature John Smit talks

THE Rugby World Cup holders board Qantas flight QF 64 this evening in a very different mood to this time four years ago, with captain John Smit describing his troops as “excited but a little daunted” by the weight of responsibility on their collective shoulders.

In 2007 the Boks left for Paris hopeful that they would do well but not expectant, and few in the rugby world predicted an ultimate South African victory.

“It is a completely different vibe this time,” Smit reflected. “This time we are going with the expectation of a nation and the title of defending champions. We know what this Cup means to the people of South Africa, we recall the crazy reception in the airport and how the celebrations went on and on.

“There is massive pressure and it can be daunting, but that is a positive because every single player wants to work that extra bit harder on our preparations,” Smit continued. “It is up to the coach and myself to use that pressure to our advantage and not let it suffocate us.”

With 18 veterans of the 2007 campaign on duty once more, including 12 of the 15 that started against England in the final, the question has been raised as to whether the hunger will be the same second time around.

“I guess that question can only be answered afterwards, but I can assure you that nobody in this squad is going to New Zealand to see the sights,” Smit said with a smile. “Like I say, the guys that have been there before know this time what is required to win, and that is driving them to work harder – the margins between winning and losing are so small in the big games, your homework has to be spot on.”

Smit added that the composition of the squad had mostly gone unquestioned by the public.

“There is a consensus that this is the best 30 players in South Africa, whether some are 34 or 20, experienced or inexperienced. Have we really left anybody behind (that was available) that is a major loss?” he asked. “I think the balance is right. The younger guys are injecting enthusiasm and the older are signposting the way.”

And that has meant a great deal of planning that the public is mostly unaware of.

“We have been planning for two years,” Smit explains. “There was a lot we could take out of 2007 in terms of the mechanics of how to play a tournament. We have been in a process for some time. Yes, there was a hiccup when we lost to the Wallabies in Durban – there was more rustiness than we envisaged – but we picked it up against the All Blacks and now we must kick off with a solid performance in a hugely important match against Wales and try to get better and better through the Pool phase and peak in the knock-out stages.”

Smit points out that Wales will be particularly anxious to start with a bang.

“Their first two matches are against their toughest opposition in the Pool – us and Samoa. They will feel that if they can win both games they will be pretty much through to the semi-finals,” he said. “We are expecting a massive onslaught from Wales. They are in pretty good shape after their warm-up games (a loss and a win, both against England), we could see a lot of attention to detail had gone into their work at the breakdowns. Warren Gatland is an organised, typical Kiwi coach.”

And hardly a shy coach either. Gatland has a history of stirring up the opposition with derogatory pre-game chirps.

“Gatland will come once again with his usual talk in the media. We anticipate it and will ignore it. Look, it is going to be a very tough match. They have their way of playing and it will be about how we enforce our game on them.”

Regarding his personal game, Smit admitted that the last few months had been very taxing on him.

“All the questions about me being good enough did get to me but I then had to bubble myself from it all,” he said. “I had to get a sense of sanity because I have to do a job for my team-mates as their captain. I am very fortunate to have had a lot of support from the guys in the team.”

by Mike Greenaway