Smit: History counts for nothing

by Pete South | South Africa captain John Smit believes Australia will feel they have the advantage over his side going into their Quarter Final showdown at the Rugby World Cup, but insists the game is an opportunity to “wipe the slate clean” and notch a victory over their great rivals.

The Wallabies emerged victorious twice over the Springboks in the Tri Nations prior to the World Cup, and have claimed victory in five of their six previous meetings but Smit insisted that his side won’t be dwelling on past results when they step out onto the field on Sunday despite being sports betting underdogs.

“I’m pretty sure they will feel they have a mental edge. The results leading into the World Cup over the last two years certainly favour them,” Smit said. “We’ll want to face the game as a fresh start in terms of where we want to go in the next three weeks and I’m pretty sure they’ll look at what they’ve been able to achieve before against us. It’s two different mind-sets I suppose.

“They certainly have had the upper hand over the last couple of season and we’d be naive not to accept that.”

Smit will be hopeful of improving the Springbok’s impressive record in the World Cup knockout stages in Wellington on Sunday, but admits that the game will be different to anything they have come up against in the past two years.

“The games we’ve played (in the past two years) have been in a different vein to what a World Cup does provide,” Smit commented. “We’re both in a situation where it’s do-or-die, last chance. We’ve got to make good on that.”

“I suppose they are not going to fool themselves and rely on what they’ve done and we’re not going to fool ourselves and look back at what hasn’t been done. Each of us are going to take what we’ve done in the last four weeks and work on that, take the positives out and hopefully put it all together on Sunday.”

Springbok head coach Peter De Villiers decision to experiment during the Tri Nations left South Africa “under-cooked” according to Smit, but the forward also believes the tough Pool games they have endured has set them up perfectly for the knockout stages of the tournament.

“Those pools, especially for us have been invaluable because we came in pretty undercooked,” said Smit. “Having the game time being able to see what your combinations are like and see how players can get into form has been very valuable for us.

“I’m pretty sure it would have been the same for the other teams. Now everyone is on the same level.”