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Springbok Roelof Smit claims treatment at Bulls made him walk

Roelof Smit

There is certainly no love lost between Lions new recruit Roelof Smit and his former Super Rugby side the Bulls – reports Rugby365’s Leezil Hendricks.

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The 26-year-old flank burst onto the scene in 2016. He was selected for the Springboks tour of Europe and played against the Barbarians.

He was on the verge of being selected for the Springboks in 2018 but numerous injuries have hampered his promising career.

And his lack of game time at the Bulls, where he spent several years, certainly did not make things any easier.

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Angered and frustrated, Smit, who made the move across the Jukskei River to join the Lions ahead of the 2020 season, revealed why he left the Bulls.

“The main reason I came to the Lions was the lack of game time at the Bulls,” Smit told reporters, adding: “The Bulls didn’t back me.

“Yes, the last two or three years I did struggle with a few injuries, but the way I was treated this year [2019] made it so much worse. They didn’t even communicate with me.

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“Going into 2019 I had huge expectations; was eager to work hard, I know what I can do and I was willing to sacrifice my body and really wanted to serve the team.

“However I didn’t get the opportunity and that is why I’m at the Lions now.”

The former Junior Springbok added that despite not having big expectations, he is happy to be at his new side and is eager to learn from the likes of Warren Whiteley.

“At the moment I just want to play rugby, I don’t really have big expectations. I’m just literally taking it day by day and enjoying my pre-season with the Lions.

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“It already feels like I’ve been here for three years. I just want to learn from the likes of Warren Whiteley,”

He added: “The Lions work hard and I’m just very happy to be here. They work with you spiritually, physically and whatever level there is.”

The Lions kick off their Super Rugby campaign against Jaguares on February 2 in Beuness Aires followed by a fixture at home against the Reds.

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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