Juan Smith to make his return to Rugby

[TRF_heineken]

Bloemfontein - Rugby World Cup winning Springbok Juan Smith will make his return to the field of play after a two year absence this weekend, but he will be carefully managed to ensure the Cheetahs get the best out of him during their Super Rugby campaign.
According to the supersport.com website, Smith, who missed the last two seasons with two horrific Achilles heel injuries, returned to training two weeks ago and has been declared ready for action by the Cheetahs medical team, which makes him likely to make an appearance this weekend in the pre-season “Reconciliation Cup†game against the Stormers.

But there are still concerns about the well-being of Smith, whose career was at a dead end and whether or not he will be able to make the step up again after a long absence from the game.

There is no doubt that in his prime, Smith was possibly the best No 7 flank on the planet, and if he can recapture anything close to that, it will be great news for Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.

Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské confirmed that Smith would play this weekend and said he had “the fullest confidence†that the Bok flank will be back to his best shortly.

“He’s really looking good,†Drotske said, “Everybody knows he is a world class player, but it is difficult for any player to come back from two years out of the game.

“He has been training well with us, and he is showing no signs of any problems with his Achilles, so we expect him to be fully fit and ready on Saturday.â€

But Drotske cautioned at too much expectation from Smith in the beginning, saying the Cheetahs had decided to give him extra time for his comeback, and to ease him back into the rigours of the Southern Hemisphere competition once again.

Still knowing the way Smith approaches the game, this may be easier said than done, as he tends to give 100% in any game he is involved in.

“We have to keep an eye on him and manage him well, especially in terms of our expectations in training. He is also 31 years old, so he’s not a young player anymore, so we will keep a close eye and manage his workload well both on and off the field.â€

With Adriaan Strauss appointed as team captain again for the season, the Bok hooker will be keen to use Smith’s experience and leadership capabilities in Super Rugby to help shore up a Cheetahs side that is looking to do better than they have in past tournaments.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15/Smith-will-be-managed-Naka-20130129

Let's see how long he'll last, I'm happy he's back, and wish him the best of luck.

One of the guys that always plays his heart out every game.

 

[nickdnz]

Feels like he's been out of the game for longer than two years. Really like him as a player, was a fantastic world class blindside. Two years is certainly a very long time away from the game. Certainly not a young guy anymore. Hope he's managed extremely well and gets back on track.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

The Cheetahs are one team that could certainly use some depth so I hope he holds out for a year for them. Even though he was/is? a classy blindside I'd be tempted to play him at lock where they are VERY short (if you'll excuse the pun) on quality. Between Labuschagne, Viljoen and Prinsloo they do have more than adequate blindsides for SR.

Apart from Smith if Brussow, Goosen, Oosthuizen and Strauss manage to go a season uninjured I expect the Cheetahs could break into the top 9 especially if they find some extra luck and see those 5 close games out that they lose by a point every year.

 

[Peat]

Fantastic player, here's hoping it goes well for him.

 

[Gena_ZA]

One thing about Juan that everyone forget is that just before the obtained the injury he had his final warning from the medical teams on concussion, one more and he would have been forced to retire
Yes it is two years ago and hope that doesn't come up again
Wishing him the best, Cheethah and Boks can do with him any day

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Juan looked pretty good if not 100% IMO. Him and Frans Viljoen coming on gave the Cheetahs a little grunt upfront as they weren't able to compete with the Stormers pack up till them coming onto the field.

Only thing is who do you leave out? Brussow and Schoeman are both good opensides and then Juan and Viljoen are more hard-nosed blindsides and then you have Labuschagne and Van der Walt with Labuschagne they more all-round loose forward with vd Walt the specialist no.8. Sure the season is long and you might need that depth but with that amount of quality in the backrow I'd seriously consider moving one of them to the 2nd row as they are desperately short on quality in that department IMO.

A Cheetahs pack of 1Nyakane, 2Strauss, 3Oosthuizen, 4Uys, 5Smith(c), 6Brussow/Schoeman until Brussow is fit, 7Viljoen, 8VdWalt, woud be quite formidable even though the bench wouldn't quite be up to SR standard apart from the loosies.

Cheetahs have been hard hit ITO quality in deoth in the prop department after losing Wian du Preez, WP Nel and especially Marcel van der Merwe in quick succession.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Juan looked pretty good if not 100% IMO. Him and Frans Viljoen coming on gave the Cheetahs a little grunt upfront as they weren't able to compete with the Stormers pack up till them coming onto the field.

Only thing is who do you leave out? Brussow and Schoeman are both good opensides and then Juan and Viljoen are more hard-nosed blindsides and then you have Labuschagne and Van der Walt with Labuschagne they more all-round loose forward with vd Walt the specialist no.8. Sure the season is long and you might need that depth but with that amount of quality in the backrow I'd seriously consider moving one of them to the 2nd row as they are desperately short on quality in that department IMO.

A Cheetahs pack of 1Nyakane, 2Strauss, 3Oosthuizen, 4Uys, 5Smith(c), 6Brussow/Schoeman until Brussow is fit, 7Viljoen, 8VdWalt, woud be quite formidable even though the bench wouldn't quite be up to SR standard apart from the loosies.

Cheetahs have been hard hit ITO quality in deoth in the prop department after losing Wian du Preez, WP Nel and especially Marcel van der Merwe in quick succession.

True, but they got Caylib Oosthuizen and Coenie Oosthuizen who can play both loosehead and tighthead. Along with Nyakane and Rossouw De Klerk, they will be okay in the prop department.

I would Play Frans Viljoen at Lock with Juan at blindside. it will just make their pack so much more effective having Juan at blindside with Brussouw and Schoeman slotting in at openside...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

True, but they got Caylib Oosthuizen and Coenie Oosthuizen who can play both loosehead and tighthead. Along with Nyakane and Rossouw De Klerk, they will be okay in the prop department.

I would Play Frans Viljoen at Lock with Juan at blindside. it will just make their pack so much more effective having Juan at blindside with Brussouw and Schoeman slotting in at openside...

Sure they'll manage as they have in past with Nyakane and the rest but they won't thrive and the scrum won't be a weapon is my point.

It could work to play Viljoen at lock. My point was to get the best players on the field and having Waltie Vermeulen at 5 with 2 of Viljoen, Labuschagne and Prinsloo not even in the 22 is just a waste of player resources IMO. The only reason I'd consider Smith at lock is that he has much experience there, has the height where Viljoen is touch and go for height with modern standards and has shown in the past he's great line-out option and also might last longer at lock (remember he isn't a spring chicken any more and hasn't played rugby for 2 years!)

 

[Hulk Hogan]

He was a fantastic player back in the day, lets hope he can bring it back with him ;D

 

[Amobokoboko]

Good to see him back, hope he can play the entire season and help the cheetahs win some more games.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

And he's announced his retirement already.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

/thread

 

[TRF_heineken]

/thread

Yup...

As excited as we were, this is very disappointing. I luckily had the privelage to watch his final game live...