John Smit, the Springbok and The Sharks hooker and captain, has accepted an offer to play for French club Cleremont-Ferrand during the 2008/09 seasons, SA Rugby and The Sharks confirmed today.

SA Rugby comment from Andy Marinos, Manager of National Teams:

“We would like to wish John and his family the very best for the future. John was always an outstanding ambassador for his country, franchise and province throughout his playing career. It is never easy to see a player of his stature and experience leave, but we would like to wish him and his family all the very best for the future.

“On behalf of everyone at SA Rugby, I want to thank John for the exemplary, dignified and respectful manner in which he represented and managed to captain his country. SA Rugby was consulted throughout the process and we respect his decision.”

Comment from John Smit, Springbok and The Sharks captain:

“After 10 wonderful years with The Sharks I decided to sign a two year contract with French club Cleremont-Ferrand, commencing in 2008 until June 2009. Representing the Springboks since my debut in 2000 and also playing for my beloved The Sharks was a real dream come true for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

“However, the time has come to make a change and move on in my professional career. I want to thank the The Sharks and SA Rugby for the incredible way they have cared, managed and treated me. I now look forward to return to my beloved South Africa with some new experiences. I am not retiring from international rugby and it will be an honour for me to play in any future match for my country.”

Comment from Rudolf Straeuli, The Sharks

“John is an outstanding individual, an inspirational leader and an incredible player. He leads by example and his humble and calm manner had a great influence on players around him. On behalf of everyone at The Sharks, I want to thank him for his massive contribution to our rugby and indeed rugby in general in the country. We wish him and his family well and he will be sorely missed.”

JOHN SMIT PLAYER PROFILE

· 67 Springbok caps - 65 caps as hooker, 2 as prop

· 42 caps as captain

· 15 points in tests (3 tries)

· Made debut as a substitute against Canada in 2000

· Was 39 times on the winning side, losing 26 and 2 drawn

· Captaincy record: won 27, lost 14 and 1 draw for a win percentage of 64%. (Fourth highest percentage of SA captains in more than 10 matches)

· Current records: Most Tests as captain (42); Most Tests as hooker (65); Most consecutive Tests for SA (46)

· Made his first class debut in 1997. Since then he played in 65 matches for The Sharks and scored 14 tries for 70 points. He played in 85 Super Rugby matches for The Sharks, scoring 5 tries for 25 points.

· Represented Blue Bulls at the 1996 Coca-Cola Craven-Week and was also a member of the SA Schools team that year.

· He also played for SA under 21 team between 1996 and 1999 and was the captain of the SA team who captured the SANZAR/UAR Under 21 Championships title in Argentina

· Was nominated as Young Player of the Year in 1999

· Under his captaincy Springboks won coveted IRB Team of the Year award in 2004

· Springboks captured Vodacom Tri-Nations title in 2004 with Smit as captain

· SA Rugby Player's Player of the Year in 2005

· Has played in 239 first class matches.

Issued by SA Rugby
Rayaan Adriaanse
Media Manager
+27 82 999 00 22
rayaan@sarugby.co.za