John William Smit, OIS, (born 3 April 1978) is a former South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player and former chief executive officer of the Sharks. He was the 50th captain of the South Africa national team, and led the team to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played most of his senior career as a hooker, but also won 13 caps as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

, where he had also played for South Africa's under-21 team. He retired from international rugby following the 2011 Rugby World Cup as the most-capped South African player ever, with 111 appearances. Smit was inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

on 24 October 2011 (while still active at club level), alongside all other World Cup-winning captains and head coaches from the tournament's inception in 1987 through 2007 (minus the previously inducted

John Eales John Eales AM (born 27 June 1970) is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby. In 1999, he became one of the first players to win multiple Rugby World Cups. Early life Eales ...

Early life

Born 3 April 1978 in

Pietersburg Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provinc ...

, South Africa, Smit attended Fields College (then Fields Primary School) in Rustenburg and then went on to

Pretoria Boys High School , motto_translation = "Through courage and labour" , location = , streetaddress = 251 Roper Street, Brooklyn , region = , city = Pretoria , province = ...

where he was head prefect in 1996 and played for the school's first XV from 1994 to 1996.

Springbok career

Smit played his first Springbok game in 2000 at the age of 22, when South Africa beat

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

51–18 at Basil Kenyon Stadium in East London. Between October 2003 and June 2007, Smit played in a record 46 consecutive Test matches for South Africa, though it was not until 2004, when he was made captain of the squad by then new coach

Jake White Jake White (born 13 December 1963 as ''Jacob Westerduin'') is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tr ...

, that he became a regular member of the starting XV. Smit's record-breaking sequence of appearances came to an end with South Africa's first match of the 2007 Tri Nations, against Australia, when he suffered an injury that prevented him taking any further part in the tournament. He recovered from his injury in time to take part in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, in which he started in 6 out of 7 South African matches and in which his leadership qualities came to the fore, saw South Africa win the William Web Ellis Trophy for the second time. When

Peter de Villiers Peter de Villiers (born 3 June 1957) is a South African professional rugby union coach and Good Party politician. He was coach of the South Africa national rugby union team from 2008 to 2011, after successes with the South African U19 and U21 ...

was appointed as the new South Africa coach in 2008, one of his first decisions was to re-appoint Smit as the captain of the national side. Smit led South Africa in their opening game of the 2008 Tri Nations, against New Zealand in Wellington, but suffered a groin injury when he was lifted and dumped by New Zealand lock Brad Thorn after the whistle had blown: Thorn received a one-match suspension but Smit missed the rest of the tournament, being replaced as captain by veteran Springbok lock,

Victor Matfield Victor Matfield (born 11 May 1977) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played for and captained the South Africa national team (Springboks) as well as the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls franchise in Super ...

. In 2009, Smit led South Africa to a series victory against the visiting

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

, and followed this by leading his team to success in the 2009 Tri Nations, in which South Africa won five of their six matches, including a clean sweep of three wins against New Zealand. In the first test against New Zealand, Smit equalled the record of 59 Tests as captain held by Australia's

George Gregan George Musarurwa Gregan AM (born 19 April 1973) is a retired Australian rugby union player, and is currently Australia's most capped international player. Gregan was born in Lusaka, Zambia. He played Super 12 (now Super Rugby) for the Brumbies ...

and England's

Will Carling William David Charles Carling (born 12 December 1965) is an English former rugby union player. He was England's youngest captain, aged 22, and won 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, captaining England 59 times. Under his captaincy, England won Five ...

. The following week, he became the most-capped captain in international rugby history. As of September 2009, Smit is one of South Africa's most successful

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

ever, having led the Springboks to victory in 46 of the 64 games that he captained, a win percentage of 72%. He has won more tests as captain than any other Springbok has played as captain. On 23 August 2010, he played his 100th Test – only the 15th player ever, and second South African to reach that milestone. After his Springbok retirement his record as captain for the most international games was broken, by Ireland's

Brian O'Driscoll Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the ...

in 2012 and New Zealand's

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugb ...

in 2013.

International tries

Clermont

During the run-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup, he was linked with the

French club French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Clermont. He eventually signed a two-year deal with Clermont, effective after the World Cup. Despite his move to France, the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board ...

announced on 20 February 2008 that he would retain his Boks captaincy. . After just one year with Clermont, Smit rejoined the and the Super 14 side

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

2009 British & Irish Lions tour

Smit captained South Africa in their 2–1 series win over the

South Africa Honours as Captain

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

*Champions: 2007 Tri Nations *Winners: 2004, 2009 *Runners-up: 2005

References

External links

* *
John Smit's Blog

Sharks Rugby profile

Springbok Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, John 1978 births Alumni of Pretoria Boys High School Living people People from Polokwane Rugby union hookers Rugby union props Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent Saracens F.C. players Sharks (rugby union) players South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players South Africa national rugby union team captains Sharks (Currie Cup) players Barbarian F.C. players ASM Clermont Auvergne players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees South African expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England South African expatriate sportspeople in England Rugby union players from Limpopo