In the latest edition of Bokwatch we take a look at the current injury situation, John Smit sets the record straight on the rumours surrounding his hamstring injury, the Bok captain and coach are both satisfied with the Bok preparations, and former All Blacks coach John Mitchell defends Richie McCaw and says that Schalk Burger is more illegal than the New Zealand number 7.
Bok Injury Watch:
The following members of the Springbok World Cup Squad are still on the injury list.
John Smit – 2nd hamstring tweak – back to play Samoa (9 Sept)
Wynand Olivier – hamstring - back to play Samoa (9 Sept)
Jean De Villiers – rib cartilage – back to play England (14 Sept)
Akona Ndungane – bruised chest – back to play Tonga (22 Sept)
John Smit dispelled rumours of a coverup as talk about the extent of his hamstring injury does the rounds. The Bok captain hasn’t played any rugby since injuring his hamstring against Australia during the Tri Nations.
Then, in training before the Namibia game, he injured a different part of the same hamstring. At the time Jake White stated that Smit had been left out of the team for the first warm-up game because of flu.
Now some sections of the media have suggested that Smit has a spleen injury which is likely to keep him sidelined until the final stages of the World Cup.
Smit, however, has denied these rumours and says he will be ready to take the field from the start of the Rugby World Cup.
“My family back home phoned me in Galway about the conspiracy theories doing the rounds,†Smit told The Mercury.
“Frankly, it’s disappointing that there is this mischief-making on the eve of the World Cup.
“I find it very negative that people make things up that have no basis in truth. Let me set the record straight. I have a hamstring injury. That’s it, and at a push I could have played against Scotland.
He talked about the second injury – picked up prior to the Namibia game.
“The thing is, it is in a different part of the hamstring to the first injury, which was a grade one tear.
“At the captain’s practice I could still feel it and pulled out of the match. I have played with worse hamstring pain, but felt that there was no need to take unnecessary risk.
“As soon as I felt that pain, I made peace with the fact that I would not play again until the first round of the World Cup, although Thursday in Peebles I was running pain free and I reckon I would have been fine to play against Scotland. But it was a bit late in the week and again, why take a risk?†concluded the Bok captain.
Smit talked about the Bok forwards after the Scotland game, saying they have not yet reached their full potential.
“None of us believes we have really been at our best during the past three years, even though there have been times when we were good.
“We have the best lineout and our scrum stands up to any opposition. But we have always felt there is so much more that we can do.
He went on to praise coach Jake White for what he has achieved in his four years at the helm.
“There is great excitement and the guys are well aware of the expectations.
“It has taken us four years to get here but the first team talk we ever had was about the World Cup. What Jake White has created in those four years is unbelievable.
“This must be one of the most experienced Springbok teams ever, and this in World Cup year. The selectors have always stuck to their plan, even though there was great pressure to deviate from it.”
For his part, White confirmed his satisfaction with the Boks’ pre-World Cup preparations.
“I am 200% satisfied with what has been happening over the last four years. 29 of the 30 players I initially wanted for the World Cup are fit. I lost only Pierre Spies through a bit of a freak illness,†said the Springbok coach.
“We could have played John against Scotland but there is a bigger picture to look at during the next few weeks. I am confident that John will be part of the team for our first World Cup match, against Samoa.
“These players have been waiting for the past four years for this Friday. All of them are 100% fit. We finished the match against
Mitchell claimed that All Black captain Richie McCaw had been unfairly labeled as a cheat and that more focus should be placed on exposing Schalk.
“There are people out there who are creating a focus on him (McCaw),” said Mitchell.
“Burger is one person you want to focus on. He doesn’t keep his feet well. He plays right on the line. But I don’t think he is as accurate as Richie in that area.
“[Richie] is very long in the upper body, so his greatest asset is that he keeps his feet as long as he can. While you are a fetcher of ball, if you keep your feet, you are going to get more favourable decisions than ones that go against you.
“When he is told to release, or given a chance and he has created the slow ball, I guess half of his body doesn’t roll away. That’s the thing most opposition coaches and opponents get annoyed with.
“He reads his ruck drill pretty well. What I guess the punter in the lounge doesn’t quite see is that rucks do form and also go.
“Once the ruck forms it is not just a continuous ruck. Sometimes there is another entry. He is very good at reading and sensing those things. He makes good choices.
“Through his maturity, he probably gives away less penalties than he has ever done in the last 30 metres. But he will be highly motivated going into this World Cup.
“Chris White, in the last World Cup semi-final, pinged him four times in a row at the breakdown. He will look to be more accurate at this World Cup.”
fast losing respect for mitchell