Springbok captain John Smit has reinforced the team’s need for discipline after stating there would be no room for “big egos” in the South African camp.
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The New Zealand press has continued its assault on the Springboks in the aftermath of lock Bakkies Botha being banned for nine-weeks for head-butting All Black scrumhalf Jimmy Cowan.
Smit believes Botha’s punishment was a fair one, and the skipper highlighted the need for team unity as no player wants to let his teammates down by not meeting the team’s internal standards for good discipline.
“The fact of the matter is that in a team sport, you can’t afford to have too many big egos. If you have one that is outside the team ethos, it hurts a team,” Smit told the media.
“You take a look at the game again and everywhere else we were pretty good. It was probably the least amount of penalties we’ve conceded in a Test match for quite some time. But the only thing you can remember is one act of silliness.
“It’s been dealt with, thankfully. I think it’s just reward for silly behaviour.”
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw added his opinion regarding thuggery and foul play and the Botha incident when quizzed by the media ahead of the second Test in this year’s Tri-Nations.
“It’s pretty simple really. If you’re going to put your team in trouble from doing something stupid well you’re wasting your time,” McCaw told NZPA.
“I don’t get angry out on the field. You’re competitive and just get on and do the next job. I find if there’s anything like that it’s usually because you’ve got them under pressure. That’s the way I look at it.”
I just wonder how John Smit can say they were pretty good in the other facets, he talks specifically about discipline and penalties.
Defensive organisation, hunting as a pack to get numbers at the breakdown, not missing penalties are all part of discipline.
Smit is right, they did whatever else they had to do in a workmanlike fashion….but this team did not take the field with the correct “attitude” last week, they were operating at 90% and against the Kiwi’s youve got to be 110%.
I think we will lose the 2nd game but it will be by 2 oe 3 points….I hope I’m wrong. We have one weak point which cannot be fixed in a week.
Gaan Smit nou vir altyd aanhou? Bakkies het mos nou sy straf en dien dit uit. Plaas begin Smit aan sy eie spel werk want hy speel pateties.
That remark about the big ego’s is quite interesting. Why do I get the feeling it does not refer to Bakkies and that there are some other issues in the team with personalities classing?
Hope I am wrong becuase we are indeed with our backs against the wall.
It was not a b-team that got a thumping it was our so-called BEST team. It is not just that we lost it is how we lost; we were outplayed in every aspect of the game.
Montagu wrote:
I think it is more the New Zealand media milking the incident. It is part of the psychological war and Smit is just responding on a barrage of questions by every “Jan rap en sy maat”.
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