Juan Smith

Infobox Rugby biography
name = Juan Smith


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dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|7|30
placeofbirth = Bloemfontein, South Africa
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weight = convert|107|kg|stlb|abbr=on
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Vodacom Cheetahs (Super 14)
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Juan Smith (born 30 July 1981 in Bloemfontein, South Africa) is a South African rugby union footballer. His usual position is at blindside flanker, although he has also played Number 8, he plays for the Springboks. He plays for the Vodacom Cheetahs in the international Super 14 competition as well as the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup. He is the current captain of the Vodacom Cheetahs.

Smith made his international debut for South Africa on the 7 June 2003 as a reserve in the 29-25 victory over Scotland at Kings Park in Durban. He was also named in the Springboks' team for the second Scottish Test the following week. He then played at number 8 during the 2003 Tri Nations Series against Australia and the All Blacks.

Smith was included in the Springboks squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. He played in four matches at the World Cup and scored a try in the match against Manu Samoa. Although he only played the one Test for South Africa during 2004 - against Wales at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in November, he was capped 10 times for the Springboks the following season.

He was a reserve in matches against Uruguay and France, before being moving up into the starting line-up again as a flanker for the 2005 Tri Nations Series. The Free State Cheetahs made it to the 2005 Currie Cup final, where they defeated the Blue Bulls to win the championship. He then played in the 20-16 loss against France at Stade de France in Paris.

The Cheetahs gained entrance into the Super 14, and competed in the 2006 season. Smith captained the side, which ended up doing remarkably well for a new team, and the Cheetahs finished above the other new team, the Western Force, as well as three other Super 14 teams. He played in the 2006 mid-year rugby tests wins over Scotland, as well as the loss against France in South Africa, then being named in the Springboks' 2006 Tri Nations Series squad.

Juan Smith was a key part of the World Cup-winning team to lift the Webb Ellis trophy in 2007 and brought it back to South Africa for the second time in four attempts. Although Smith wears the number seven on the back of his shirt, implying that he is an open side flanker, he is actually a blindside flanker as the custom in South Africa is for openside to wear the number six rather than seven. Smith is a strong ball carrier and has decent pace he is arguably one of the best blindside flankers in the world.

References

External links

* [http://www.vodacomcheetahs.co.za/player.asp?pid=99 Cheetahs profile]
*Springboks|id=22807|name=Juan Smith
* [http://www.rwc2003.irb.com/EN/Tournament/Teams/South%20Africa/Players/Juan+Smith/ Juan Smith] on rwc2003.irb.com
* [http://www.genslin.us/bokke/SARugby.html Juan Smith] on genslin.us
* [http://www.fscheetahs.co.za Free State Cheetahs]