Ruan-Henry Smith (born 24 January 1990) 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 currently signed to the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

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 ...

in Australia for Super Rugby Pacific. His regular playing position is Loosehead Prop. Smith previously played for the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

team in

. Smith is the twin brother of

JP Smith (rugby union) Jean-Pierre Smith (born 24 January 1990) is a South African professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for the LA Giltinis of Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States. Smith previously played prop for the Queensland Reds. He a ...

who is also a professional rugby player.

Rugby career

Smith made his

debut for the during the

2012 Super Rugby season The 2012 Super Rugby season was the second season of the current 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involves teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as FxPro Super R ...

. He previously played for in South Africa's Vodacom Cup. Smith played four seasons at the in Super Rugby after being signed to their extended playing squad in 2013 Super Rugby season. Smith went to Japan after 2013 Super Rugby season where he played three seasons with Toyota Verblitz. He initially signed with the Tokyo-based

Sunwolves The Sunwolves (Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or ...

for the 2018 Super Rugby season but, after his mother fell ill, he was released on compassionate grounds and returned to his home in Brisbane where he joined his twin brother Jean-Pierre at the Queensland Reds. In 2020, Smith signed to his fourth Super Rugby club with the

, and after a stint with the LA Giltinis in 2021, Smith was announced in October 2021 as a new signing for the NSW Waratahs for the upcoming 2022 season.

Super Rugby statistics

References

External links

* Rugby union props 1990 births Living people Western Force players ACT Brumbies players Canberra Vikings players Western Province (rugby union) players South African rugby union players People from Vryburg Alumni of Paarl Gimnasium South African expatriate rugby union players in Australia Toyota Verblitz players South African expatriate rugby union players in Japan Queensland Reds players Melbourne Rebels players Brisbane City (rugby union) players South African expatriate rugby union players in the United States LA Giltinis players New South Wales Waratahs players Rugby union players from North West (South African province) Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Golden Lions players {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-stub