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Wellington - John Smit has tipped the inexperienced team that will face the All Blacks in Wellington to be the future of Springbok rugby.
Speaking to the New Zealand herald, John Smit revealed the challenges of leading out a Bok team short on Test experience.
"My biggest job or challenge has been just to get the guys to keep renewing their own self belief in what they can do and what got them here against the continual struggle of people telling them that they don't have that ability," he said.
"With all that had been read and said, I think it is very difficult to keep renewing that belief in themselves and in each other because of what they can do and what their talents are."
"We need to keep building on these guys because they're going to playing Tests for some time after the World Cup - they are going to be the future of rugby in this country."
Although the Test against the All Blacks will mark the 104th cap for John Smit, and a record 78th as captain the remaining 14 players only have 168 caps between them. They face an All Black side with a combined 640 caps.
Smit was optimistic about his young team and believed that the experience would be vital to the future development of their international careers.
"This will be the core group that goes on for the next couple of years."
"It's not like the entire team will retire after the World Cup -- there will be a large proportion of the guys that they leave behind -- which would have had a taste of what the environment of Springbok rugby is."
"That will filter through to these youngsters and with that I think the potential of this young team will just get better and better."
Young flyhalf Patrick Lambie is set to make his run-on debut against the All Blacks in Wellington, and John Smit had nothing but praise for the budding 20-year old prospect.
"He has a composure that is not the norm for a guy of his age. I think he'll be around for a long time."
"As quiet as he is, he's got a huge amount of potential for leadership as well and it will be wonderful to watch him grow even more."
"The short amount of time he's had at a high level, he's just slotted in really quickly."
Smit emphasised that, despite their inexperience, the Bok team was still looking for a result, and were not there to just make up the numbers.
"We've got a young team here that hopefully can understand what the Tri-Nations is about and what kind of a jump it is to play in a Test match against Australia or New Zealand.
"I'm hoping that they're not just here to learn, but they're here to play and do well," he said.
South Africa will hope to redeem themselves after suffering a 39-20 loss to the Wallabies in Sydney last weekend.
The Springboks face the All Blacks on Saturday at Westpac stadium in Wellington at 09.35 local time.
Teams:
All Blacks: 15 Mils Muliaina 14 Cory Jane 13 Conrad Smith 12 Ma'a Nonu 11 Zac Guildford 10 Daniel Carter 9 Jimmy Cowan 8 Adam Thomson 7 Richie McCaw (captain) 6 Jerome Kaino 5 Ali Williams 4 Samuel Whitelock 3 Ben Franks 2 Andrew Hore 1 Wyatt Crockett
Substitutes: 16 Corey Flynn 17 John Afoa 18 Jarrad Hoeata 19 Liam Messam 20 Piri Weepu 21 Colin Slade 22 Sonny Bill Williams
Springboks: 15 Morné Steyn, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Gerhard Mostert, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Ryan Kankowski, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 Odwa Ndungane
Speaking to the New Zealand herald, John Smit revealed the challenges of leading out a Bok team short on Test experience.
"My biggest job or challenge has been just to get the guys to keep renewing their own self belief in what they can do and what got them here against the continual struggle of people telling them that they don't have that ability," he said.
"With all that had been read and said, I think it is very difficult to keep renewing that belief in themselves and in each other because of what they can do and what their talents are."
"We need to keep building on these guys because they're going to playing Tests for some time after the World Cup - they are going to be the future of rugby in this country."
Although the Test against the All Blacks will mark the 104th cap for John Smit, and a record 78th as captain the remaining 14 players only have 168 caps between them. They face an All Black side with a combined 640 caps.
Smit was optimistic about his young team and believed that the experience would be vital to the future development of their international careers.
"This will be the core group that goes on for the next couple of years."
"It's not like the entire team will retire after the World Cup -- there will be a large proportion of the guys that they leave behind -- which would have had a taste of what the environment of Springbok rugby is."
"That will filter through to these youngsters and with that I think the potential of this young team will just get better and better."
Young flyhalf Patrick Lambie is set to make his run-on debut against the All Blacks in Wellington, and John Smit had nothing but praise for the budding 20-year old prospect.
"He has a composure that is not the norm for a guy of his age. I think he'll be around for a long time."
"As quiet as he is, he's got a huge amount of potential for leadership as well and it will be wonderful to watch him grow even more."
"The short amount of time he's had at a high level, he's just slotted in really quickly."
Smit emphasised that, despite their inexperience, the Bok team was still looking for a result, and were not there to just make up the numbers.
"We've got a young team here that hopefully can understand what the Tri-Nations is about and what kind of a jump it is to play in a Test match against Australia or New Zealand.
"I'm hoping that they're not just here to learn, but they're here to play and do well," he said.
South Africa will hope to redeem themselves after suffering a 39-20 loss to the Wallabies in Sydney last weekend.
The Springboks face the All Blacks on Saturday at Westpac stadium in Wellington at 09.35 local time.
Teams:
All Blacks: 15 Mils Muliaina 14 Cory Jane 13 Conrad Smith 12 Ma'a Nonu 11 Zac Guildford 10 Daniel Carter 9 Jimmy Cowan 8 Adam Thomson 7 Richie McCaw (captain) 6 Jerome Kaino 5 Ali Williams 4 Samuel Whitelock 3 Ben Franks 2 Andrew Hore 1 Wyatt Crockett
Substitutes: 16 Corey Flynn 17 John Afoa 18 Jarrad Hoeata 19 Liam Messam 20 Piri Weepu 21 Colin Slade 22 Sonny Bill Williams
Springboks: 15 Morné Steyn, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Gerhard Mostert, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Ryan Kankowski, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 Odwa Ndungane
