Div sticks with Smit

Peter de Villiers is to stick with John Smit in the starting Springbok team at the Rugby World Cup.

"Luckily I'm the coach," he said in the face of mounting criticism of his preference for the captain ahead of Bismarck du Plessis.

The Bok coach ignored all the danger signs from Sunday's last-gasp 17-16 win over Wales when the steely, all-action presence of Bismarck du Plessis helped turn around a game that was getting away from the world champions. De Villiers relented only in the 56th minute when he decided to bring on Du Plessis.

Yesterday, he again defended his selections, in particular his insistence on starting with Smit.

"For me it's not as black and white as some people would believe," he said in defiance of a clamour back home for Du Plessis to be the No1 hooker.

"There's more to team selection. If every player understands his role, that's the important thing. If you look at how comfortable Wales were against our starting line-up it was important that we had something up our sleeve on the bench.

"We look at the cohesion of the team and what every player can bring. There are definitely some attributes Bismarck has that John doesn't have. We'll look at what we want to achieve in any given match and make selection decisions accordingly."

Former Bok coach Jake White, who is a studio analyst for NZ television during the World Cup, was questioned on the same topic before the Boks' opening match. He suggested the selection policy had more to do with past achievements than realities facing the team now.

White was also asked whether the team had progressed since he was in charge. He said the squad looked more or less the same and that the tactics were fairly similar.

The fact that the Springboks went into the match against Wales with 815 Test caps, the most accumulated by one team, proved a two-edged sword. It does in some ways compromise their endurance, especially against teams who can maintain a quick tempo, but it provides them with valuable experience and the ability to make sound decisions in times of crisis.

They were able to do the latter and weather the storm against Wales but whether they will be able to do the same against the less-forgiving All Blacks or the Wallabies later in the tournament remains to be seen.

ACKFORD SAYS TIME IS UP FOR BOKS' 'RELUCTANT' ROCK:

England lock forward Paul Ackford, writing in the London Daily Telegraph yesterday, said Springbok skipper John Smit was finished as a rugby international "even if he appears reluctant to acknowledge the fact himself".

Ackford said Smit had been the rock on which the current Springbok team had been built.

"Smit, in his pomp, was a mobile rallying point. His work at the lineout and in the scrummage was first rate. His power on those short charging bursts often attracted two or three defenders. His hands were good, but more than all of this, he was the public face of Springbok rugby as well as the man inside the camp who held it all together," wrote Ackford.

The thing with great players, however, was that they never fall off the cliff altogether, he said.

"The descent into ordinariness is gentle, complicated by the defiant flourish, the temporary return to form. Veteran forwards know how to get by, know how to hang on at the edge of rucks . "