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PARIS - Like any good hooker, South Africa captain John Smit has spent years in the gym building up his muscles to survive the physical demands of international rugby.
The results are plain to see - he is a big man with an impressive physique. Yet Smit's greatest strength has got nothing to do with his bulging biceps.
As captain of the Springboks, Smit carries an extra burden that few other sportsmen would ever consider lifting and he is lucky to have been born with broad shoulders because the weight of expectation and pressure can be crippling.
South Africans love their rugby but do not like to settle for second best. They won the World Cup at home in 1995 and the pressure on them to win again this year is enormous.
Should they succeed, 29-year-old Smit will be revered as a national hero, should they lose, he may never play for the Springboks again.
Smit is already South Africa's most capped captain, but not everyone agrees with his appointment. He has the unwavering support of coach Jake White but his detractors think he should not be in the team, arguing that there are better hookers.
Smit's greatest asset is to cope with the pressures around him, which in South African rugby, invariably means dealing with politics.
Even if South Africa beat England in Sunday's final, the team is likely to be broken up because of political pressure to raise the quota of coloured players in the side.
Smit has been able to distance himself from these pressures by focusing on rugby and his leadership has been exemplary.
When the Springboks were in trouble and starting to panic in their quarter-final against Fiji, Smit called his players into a huddle and delivered the perfect rallying call to jolt his team mates into action.
"I told the guys to remember the look in the eyes of the Aussies and the Kiwis and said I didn't want to see that here," he explained to reporters, referring to Australia and New Zealand's quarter-final exits the day before.
White, who first appointed Smit to the captaincy in 2004, said his leadership was pivotal to South Africa's chances of winning the Webb Ellis Cup.
"It just shows that certain players and certain teams can handle pressure a lot better and I'm just thankful that I'm sitting here as a coach of a team that could handle it," he said.
White has known Smit since he was an outstanding schoolboy prop in Pretoria. He left the Northern Province as an 18-year-old to play for the Durban-based Sharks in the Super 12 then, in 1999, he captained the South African Under 21s team, coached by White.
White convinced Smit to change positions to hooker and a year later he made his test debut as a replacement against Canada.
White immediately named Smit as his captain when he took over the coaching job in 2004 and although the road has been rocky, Smit says winning the World Cup would make it all worthwhile.
"I'm relieved and happy we got through, although the truth is we haven't achieved anything yet," Smit said.
"There's nothing in the bag, and we need to follow up on the last four years of hard work.
"When South Africa won the first one, in 1995, I was a 17-year-old and everyone in the nation needed it.
"The last 12 years we've gone from strength to strength and it's a different South Africa. Twelve years later to rekindle those emotions in everyone is a huge privilege."
- REUTERS
