Juan-Philip Smith (born 30 March 1994) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays for the Seattle Seawolves in

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. His regular position is scrum-half, but he has played as a fly-half on occasion.

Career

Border (2010–11)

At high school level, Smith earned provincial selection to represent Border. He played for them at the 2010 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in

Upington Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...

and the 2011 Under-18

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The tou ...

– South Africa's premier high school competition – in Kimberley. He was also eligible to play at the 2012 Craven Week, but was not picked as he had agreed to join the

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

-based and fell foul of a newly adopted Border Rugby Football Union policy of not picking players for their Craven Week squad that already signed contracts with other unions.

Blue Bulls and South Africa Under-20 (2013–15)

He started in twelve matches for the side in the

2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

, including three matches as a fly-half. He scored a total of 31 points during the season, including 14 points in their match against , which also saw Smith score his only try of the competition. The Blue Bulls won all twelve of their matches during the regular season to finish top of the log and to quality for the title play-offs. Smith started in their 37–21 victory over the s in the semi-final and in the final, where he helped his side become champions by beating

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

rivals 35–23. In 2014, he was included in the ' squad for the

2014 Vodacom Cup The 2014 Vodacom Cup was played between 7 March and 16 May 2014 and was the 17th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Cu ...

competition. However, he failed to appear in this competition as he was included in the South Africa Under-20 squad that participated at the

IRB Junior World Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...

held in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He played off the bench in their first match as South Africa beat

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

61–5, and started their other two matches in the pool stage, a 33–24 win over hosts

and a 21–8 win over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

to finish top of their pool. He started their semi-final match as they again met

in the semi-finals and beat them, this time by a 32–25 scoreline, to qualify to their second final. He remained the starting scrum-half for the final, but was on the losing side as

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

won the match 21–20 to consign South Africa to the runner-up spot. Smith returned to domestic action with the s in the

2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Group A ...

. He started six of their matches in the competition and appeared as a replacement in four more. He also scored one of the Blue Bulls' 21 tries in their 143–0 victory over on the opening day of the season and eventually helped them to finish the regular season in second position. He started their 23–19 victory over the s in the semi-final, but did not feature in the final, where the Blue Bulls beat 20–10 to be crowned champions. He was again named in the ' squad for the

2015 Vodacom Cup The 2015 Vodacom Cup was contested from 6 March to 30 May 2015. The tournament was the 18th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South Africa ...

. After being an unused replacement in their 20–18 victory over eventual champions the , he made his domestic first class debut in their next match, a 44–0 victory over

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n side in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

. After his first appearance on domestic soil against the a week later, he made his first start in their quarter final match against a , helping the Blue Bulls to a 44–21 victory. He also started in their semi-final match against , but ended on the losing side as the team from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

ran out 10–6 winners. He featured in nine of the s' matches in the 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship. He scored a try in their 41–31 victory over the , but experience a poor season overall as the defending champions finished in fifth spot on the log to fail to qualify for the play-offs.

Cheetahs (2016–)

Smith was named in the training squad of

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

-based

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

franchise the for the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Juan-Philip 1994 births Living people Blue Bulls players Free State Cheetahs players Expatriate rugby union players in the United States People from Bloemhof Rugby union scrum-halves Seattle Seawolves players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States Southern Kings players Eastern Province Elephants players South African rugby union players Rugby union players from North West (South African province)