WHEN SOUTH Africa’s coaches talk about “battle stats”, they often cite Kwagga Smith as a prime example. Usually deployed off the bench, his impact was a key component of the Boks’ World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023.
At France 2023, he turned over or disrupted 42% of the defensive rucks he hit – the best success rate in the competition (see panel).
A bronze medallist at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Smith owns a pecan-nut farm in Mpumalanga but is currently playing in Japan. RW caught up with him as he recovered from groin surgery…
RW: How does the standard of club rugby in Japan compare to when you first arrived in 2018?
KS: The league has improved a lot since Japan hosted the 2019 World Cup. It’s fun playing there but not as easy as everyone thinks. The number of world-class players makes the competition tough.
Japanese rugby has grown a lot since 2019. This season we’ve had five or six games with over 30,000 fans. The companies put in good money to get the right foreign players and to develop Japanese players, who benefit from playing with and against the likes of Ardie Savea, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith and Brodie Retallick, as well as all the Springboks there. You’ve made 50 appearances in
Japan over six seasons, which is a very light workload compared to many. Does that work for you?
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Rugby World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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"I remember getting eating guidelines for Christmas Day!"
CHRISTMAS, the most wonderful time of the year? Not if you’re a professional rugby player it’s not.
Rugby firsts
FIRST RUGBY match you went to? I would have gone to RODNEY PARADE to watch a Newport game when I was about six years old, so around 1992 or 1993.
THE JOHN FISHER STATE SCHOOL RUGBY FESTIVAL
The inaugural John Fisher Rugby Festival hopes to Send state-school rugby players into the stratosphere.
The Making Of Robbie Henshaw
How this small-town boy went On to become a big-time player
RG SNYMAN
The giant Springbok is enjoying the best of both worlds since joining Leinster
BENHARD JANSE VAN RENSBURG
Bristol's South African centre has one eye on an England call-up in 2026
RUGBY RANT
Jessica Hayden, author of The Red Roses, says the women’s game can handle criticism
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO ...GO ON TOUR WITH EMERGING IRELAND
Munster's Ben O'Connor tells RW about the eye-opening trip to South Africa
"Welsh rugby treats players like pieces of meat, not assets"
THEY’VE BUILT the women’s game around the men’s game in Wales but it has to be its own thing.
"I don't believe in dinosaurs – the boys think it's nuts!"
The Exeter Chiefs hooker talks Tarmac, time travel and Tyson Fury