John Smit
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John William Smit (born 3 April 1978 in Pietersburg, South Africa) is the 51st and current captain of the South African national rugby union team, the Springboks. He stands 188cm tall and weighs in at 116kg and plays the position of hooker.
Smit went to Pretoria Boys High School where he was head prefect in 1996 and played in the first rugby team from 1994 to 1996.
Smit played his first Springbok game in 2000 at the age of 22, when South Africa beat Canada 51-18 at Basil Kenyon Stadium in East London. He was on and off of the reserve bench until 2004 when he was made captain of the squad by then new coach Jake White.
As of 2005 Smit is one of South Africa's most successful captains ever, having lead the Springboks to victory in 16 of the 22 games that he captained, a win percentage of 72%. This makes him just as successful as other great South African captains such as Gary Teichmann and Francois Pienaar.
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| South Africa squad - 2003 Rugby World Cup | ||
|---|---|---|
| Forwards: | Bands • Bezuidenhout • Boome • Botha • Burger • Coetzee • Krige (c) • Matfield • van Niekerk • Rautenbach • Rossouw • Santon • Scholtz • Sephaka • Smit • Smith |  |
| Backs: | Barry • Delport • Fourie • Greeff • Hougaard • de Kock • Koen • Loubscher • Muller • Paulse • Terblanche • van der Westhuizen • van der Westhuyzen • Willemse | |
| Coach: | Straeuli | |
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