Scottish club poised to snap up Kwagga Smith on a short-term deal
Edinburgh are set to sign Lions and South Africa flanker Albertus “Kwagga” Smith as Rugby World Cup cover. The short-term deal is likely to hinge on whether Smith – capped once – is a surprise inclusion in Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks squad for the World Cup.
The 26-year-old was a key member of the Lions’ Super Rugby team, captaining the side twice, but missed the final match of the season with a hamstring injury.
A former South Africa Sevens player, he would join Edinburgh after the truncated Currie Cup, which is due to finish on September 7.
At 5ft 11ins and around 93kgs, Smith is a relatively small but extremely quick, explosive and powerful openside flanker. His capture would help Edinburgh offset the losses of Scotland’s John Barclay, Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie, all of whom are near-certain to be selected in Gregor Townsend’s World Cup squad.
In fact, Richard Cockerill could lose as many as five of his Edinburgh back rows to international duty during the global showpiece. Magnus Bradbury is also a strong contender to travel to Japan with Scotland, while Viliame Mata will be part of the Fijian squad.
As per reports in SA press and via @thistlerugbypod, Edinburgh are set to sign Lions and South Africa flanker Kwagga Smith on a short-term contract after the Currie Cup. The deal will hinge on whether Smith is a surprise inclusion in the Springboks RWC squad.
— Jamie Lyall (@JLyall93) June 23, 2019
Cockerill has already signed Scottish Brumbies lock/blindside flanker Murray Douglas on a short-term deal to ease that burden, with Australian loose forward Nick Haining joining from Bristol, but neither are specialist opensides. That potentially leaves Luke Crosbie as the only option at seven during the World Cup period.
A short-term deal at Edinburgh wouldn’t be the first time Smith has taken up this type of contract following a Super Rugby season. Last year he signed on for a stint at Japanese club Yamaha Jubilo before returning for the Lions’ 2019 Super Rugby campaign.
Smith played in 11 of the Lions’ 16 Super Rugby matches this term, scoring seven tries, the joint-second highest tally by a forward in the competition so far.
A product of the Lions set-up, he won his solitary Boks cap in Washington against Wales in June last year after foregoing the opportunity to represent the Blitzbokke at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in favour of pursuing XVs honours.
He already has a Commonwealth gold medal to his name, helping the South African side to victory at the Glasgow Games in 2014. And he was part of the bronze-winning Blitzbokke squad at the Rio Olympics two years later, playing twice for the Barbarians the same season.
WATCH: Episode three of the RugbyPass Rugby Explorer series where former Scotland lock Jim Hamilton visits South Africa
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments