Albertus Stephanus Smith (born 11 June 1993), known professionally as Kwagga Smith, is a South African

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 it ...

player for the South Africa national team, the in

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 ...

and

Yamaha Júbilo Shizuoka Blue Revs (formerly the Yamaha Júbilo) are a rugby union team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. The team came second behind Toshiba Brave Lupus in the second season of Japanese rugby's Top League (2004–05). They were coached by former ...

in the Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

. His regular position is flanker. He was a member of the South African Sevens team that won a bronze medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and of the South African team that won the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

Rugby career

Youth

He played school rugby for HTS Middelburg in

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. ...

, which led to his inclusion in the U18 squads that played at the

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 to ...

competitions in 2010 and 2011. After school, he moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, where he joined the . He started in nine matches for the side during the

2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen Currie Cup unions. Competition Division A There were seven participating teams in the 201 ...

, scoring four tries. He was selected in the South African U20 side that played at the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the International Rugby Board, IRB. A total of twelve nation ...

in France. His only appearance in the pool stages came when he came played off the bench in the 97–0 victory over 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. He didn't play in their matches against

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 ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but he did return to the bench for their semi-final clash with

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. He came on in the first half and scored one of South Africa's two tries in the match, but it wasn't enough to prevent them losing the match 18–17 as Wales progressed to the final. Smith was again named in their final match of the tournament, the third-placed play-off against

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 coun ...

, and once again scored a try for the Baby Boks to help the team to a 41–34 victory and to clinch third place in the competition. He returned to domestic action later in 2013, making ten appearances for the side in the

2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

, scoring four tries in the process. He also played for the same team 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 ...

Sevens

At the end of 2013, Smith joined the South African Sevens side. He made his debut on the international

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the co ...

circuit at the

2013 South Africa Sevens The 2013 South Africa Sevens was the third tournament within the 2013–2014 Sevens World Series. It was held over the weekend of 7–8 December 2013 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, with South Africa emerging the winners. Format ...

event, helping his side to victory in their home tournament for just the second time ever, beating

in the Cup final. He appeared in six legs of the

2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series The 2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 15th annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides. The IRB Sevens World Series has been run by the Internation ...

, following up the event in South Africa with appearances in the

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

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 ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

legs of the tournament. He was selected in the squad that played at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and helped his side to a 17–12 victory over a

that won the previous four consecutive tournaments.

Golden Lions

He was included in the first team squad for the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

and was named on the bench for their Round Two match against the in

2016 Summer Olympics

Smith was included in a 12-man squad for the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He was named in the starting line-up for their first match in Group B of the competition against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, with South Africa winning the match 24–0.

Yamaha Júbilo

In July 2018, Smith joined Japanese side

for the 2018–19 Top League season.

South Africa

Smith was named in the South Africa squad for the

. Smith played two matches, against

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 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

in the pool stage, starting both at openside flanker. South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating

in the final. In 2021, Smith was part of the South Africa squad for the tests against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. In the sole game vs Georgia, he scored his 1st test try, playing as 8th man. He went on to feature for the rest of 2021, including the

2021 Rugby Championship The 2021 Rugby Championship was the ninth edition of the annual southern hemisphere The Rugby Championship, competition, involving Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, New Zealand national ...

and 2021 Autumn Nations Series, predominantly at the blindside flank and also Number 8.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Kwagga South African rugby union players Living people 1993 births People from Lydenburg Rugby union flankers Golden Lions players South African people of British descent South Africa international rugby sevens players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Rugby sevens players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of South Africa Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players of South Africa Olympic bronze medalists for South Africa Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens South Africa international rugby union players White South African people Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Shizuoka Blue Revs players Rugby union players from Mpumalanga Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games