Phil Wilkins explains on Rugby Heaven why he believes that John Smit is a fading force as Test-level scrummager.
"When head coach Robbie Deans spoke of "removing players from drinking at the trough", the Wallabies automatically reached for their throats around the jugular region.
“Deans was not raising an alcohol issue, but inferring that successive losses to New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri Nations were not acceptable. It was simply a new-blood-for-old policy, that players regularly drinking the poison of Test losses and becoming immune to the gall of defeat should make way for players with the self-assurance and skills to master the world.
“It was not a verbal dismissal to the scrap heap, but Deans's warning that a transfusion of heart and soul allied with youth and ambition was about to take place. The 19-18 Tri Nations loss to New Zealand in Sydney says the time has come.
“The irony of the Wallabies' 29-17 loss to South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town earlier this month was that Australia's best player, loose-head prop Benn Robinson, scrummed so powerfully against Springboks front-rower John Smit, starting at tight-head rather than hooker, that he intensified scrutiny on the man who led the Springboks to World Cup glory in 2007.”
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