"I think my eight-year holiday as hooker is over!," said Smit, after leading the Boks to a 20-15 win over Wales in Cardiff.

"It went nicely. I had a lot of support from the guys around me. They were really motivated to make it work for me and I was quite impressed with the end result."

Although his career with the Natal development side began in the No3 shirt, Smit has since had minimal game time at prop. With his only recent experience at tighthead coming during his time in France with Clermont Auvergne, Smit admits that he has plenty to work on ahead of next summer's Lions tour.

"I started there but, in the last eight years, I've always just come off the bench and I've probably only started three games.

"Who knows (if it's a good decision to move)? One game doesn't give a clear indication. Tighthead is not an easy position to dominate and there's a lot of opponents out there.

"It will take time. It was a good step in the right direction but there's still a lot of work to do. I'm not even match fit yet. I've got a lot of work to do and this, I suppose, is the first game of my new season."