Peter de Villiers
When Peter de Villiers laid out the roadmap for the Springboks for the 2011 World Cup season last week, one statement stood out above all else – he will only name his captain on the 2nd of May.
After the disaster that was the Rugby World Cup in 2003 new Springbok coach, Jake White, took little time to name his captain. Such was his faith in John Smit that he named him long before even picking his first Springbok squad.
Under White, Smit excelled as captain. Of course it was not all plain sailing as everyone will remember, where in 2006, a year before the Rugby World Cup in France the media and public wanted both to be sacked from their respective roles within the Springbok setup.
Then came the surprise selection of Peter de Villiers as head-coach for the Springboks in 2008.
One of the first things De Villiers did when taking up the job, was fly to France to chat to Smit to try and establish whether the Rugby World Cup winning captain would still be interested in leading the Springboks under De Villiers.
Smit returned and after a disastrous start to De Villiers tenure in 2008, the Springboks completed a magical year in 2009 by winning the British & Irish Lions series in South Africa, followed by a Tri-Nations title in the same year.
Then… the experiments started, specifically with Smit.
De Villiers believed at the time that if Smit is going to the World Cup, moving him to tighthead prop was the way to go as this would extend his career. Over and above this, the apprentice at the time and also a World Cup winner, Bismarck du Plessis, could no longer be ignored.
Fast forward to 2011, the season that will define Smit and other senior Boks and whether they deserve to be included in the Rugby World Cup squad judging on their form in the extended Super 15 competition.
Sharks coach John Plumtree had no hesitation to name Smit as his team captain for the 2011 Super Rugby event, being one of a long list of coaches who recognises Smit’s ability not only as player, but as captain.
John Smit is a hooker, and in Bismarck du Plessis and Smit the Sharks (and Boks) arguably have two of the top 3 or 5 hookers in world rugby today. Smit’s role therefore should primarily have been as a hooker, who in a crisis, can pack down at either prop.
Plumtree’s obvious dilemma came by naming Smit captain which has seemingly forced him to start Smit whenever fit, even if that means at prop while having Jannie or Beast or even Van Staden having to shift to the bench.
It is the wrong decision.
The Sharks are in an enviably position to rotate Smit and Bismarck throughout the tournament, having two of the best hookers in world rugby fit and fresh for the duration of this marathon, and more importantly, in top form for the Boks later this year.
If captaincy is the issue I believe Plumtree is getting this wrong too.
The problem that Peter de Villiers faces, is that the only player that could possibly challenge Smit for the role of Springbok captain for the 2011 season and World Cup, Victor Matfield, is not covering himself in glory either at the moment.
Peter de Villiers will arguably make the most difficult, and single most important decision on May 2nd, and if I can leave him with one thought, or one example, it would be the decision taken by Nick Mallet months prior to the Rugby World Cup in 1999, where he decided to drop his long-standing captain Gary Teichmann, mainly thanks to public and media pressure similar to what we see now.
