Injured David Pocock has backed his veteran Brumbies replacement George Smith George Smith returns to the Brumbies. Picture: Stefan Postles Source: Getty Images INJURED star David Pocock says he's "absolutely gutted" to miss the British and Irish Lions tour but has backed George Smith to step smoothly into breech for the Brumbies - and possibly the Wallabies - in 2013. Pocock is set to meet a Canberra surgeon today ahead of reconstructive surgery to repair a ruptured ACL tendon in his left knee, suffered in an innocuous looking clean-out on the flanker in the Brumbies' win over the Waratahs on Saturday night. The 24-year-old, who was tipped to be Wallabies captain against the Lions, is set to be sidelined for the next six months, effectively ruling him out of all of Super Rugby and most Test rugby as well. "I'm pretty gutted to be honest," Pocock said. It hasn't fully sunk in it yet. I've really enjoyed my time in Canberra so far, and enjoyed playing in the first two games. For this to happen with the Lions tour coming up as well ... yeah, it's not ideal. Lions tours only come once in a lifetime. It's disappointing, for sure. Pocock said his knee had felt "sore" when first injured but he'd tried to stay positive. The doctors in the rooms both thought it was an ACL straight away, but I held out hope it might be something else. The scans showed it was an ACL though," Pocock said. It's a long road to recovery but I'm not the first bloke to do, and won't be last, so I'll get stuck in and come out bigger and better. Pocock joined the chorus of praise for his replacement on Saturday, saying Smith looked liked he'd never left Super Rugby. Smith's incredible effort - in which he topped the Brumbies' tackle count with 16 - was not only pitch-perfect for the Brumbies following Pocock's loss, but an impressive show for an onlooker named Robbie Deans. Asked if Smith should be considered by the Wallabies coach for the Lions, Pocock replied: "It's George Smith, and we all know what he's capable of. I guess that's a decision for Robbie and the selectors and the ARU to talk about. There's a lot of rugby to be played between now and June. Out of respect for Pocock, the Brumbies kept celebrations for their NSW win muted, as well talk about Smith's perfectly timed return. Good judges had said Smith is as good a player now as he was when he left the Brumbies in 2010, but based on stats from his performance at the weekend, Smith is arguably a better player. In a 70-minute performance and with just one week's training under his belt, Smith made a team-high 16 tackles (with only one miss), ran six times with one tackle-bust, and won the ball at the breakdown three times, with one pilfer and two forced penalties. In all categories bar the ball-run stats - and even they were close - Smith's figures were all above the flanker's per-game averages in his last season in 2010. "If that's how you play in your first game after two years in Japan, then that's a great bonus for us," said coach Jake White. I have coached against him. I know what it means when players in the change room talk about him, and use him name regularly. Players are the best evaluators of players who can play and can't play in international change rooms. Obviously George is going to play a lot more than he would of, because he and Poey would have swapped those roles around. It just obviously means George will get a full-time role as an openside now. Smith, who'll fly out to South Africa with the Brumbies today for games against the Sharks and Stormers, said he was confident he was in shape to step back into a full-time role. I am confident in my ability and my fitness. I played in a very fast and combative Japanese league, people would be surprised how fast the game is there, and the fitness you need," he said.