Kwagga fighting mental battle

Springbok loose forward Kwagga Smith admits it’s been “tough” dealing with the most serious injury of his career. fishroad-app.com

The 33-year-old suffered a knee injury while playing for his Japanese club, the Shizuoka Blue Revs, in May that ruled him out for the remainder of the year, including the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks.

Speaking at FNB Stadium at the launch of Castle Double Malt as title sponsor of the New Zealand tour, Smith revealed how difficult the rehabilitation process has been.

MORE: ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry will be massive’

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“Everything is new to me,” he said. “I’ve never had an injury this big in my whole career.

“I’m taking it step-by-step, following the medical staff and what they are telling me to do. We are taking it easy and we are not rushing it. We want to make sure that when I’m back, I will be back for the last bit of my career.

“Mentally, it’s tough.”

Smith’s injury opened the door for Stormers opensider Paul de Villiers, who was included in the Springbok squad for the Nations Championship Tests in July.

With Siya Kolisi suffering a hamstring injury before the Boks’ opener against England at Ellis Park, De Villiers was thrust into the starting lineup for his debut and wore the No 6 jersey again against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld.

MORE: Paulie D proving he belongs at No 6

Smith believes the 23-year-old has grabbed his opportunity with both hands.

“I saw him when we were at the alignment camp, when I popped in at the hotel, and he was one of the first guys to talk to me and ask for advice,” Smith said.

“That’s special because it shows he’s a person willing to learn and that’s really important.

“For Rassie [Erasmus], it’s about players who are buying in, willing to learn and learning the ways he wants you to play.

“He has been playing really well. He has a great future in front of him.”

BAKKIES: Something is gonna bleed or break

The 63-Test Bok added that the growing competition for places forces everyone to raise their game.

“The young boys are coming through,” he said. “I put myself in their shoes when I was younger; you get that opportunity and you give it your everything.

“The competition is good. If there’s healthy competition, you know that when you get back, you have to be in top form. It’s better for your game.”

Photo: Brendan Moran/Gallo Images

The post Kwagga fighting mental battle appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

La JS Kabylie perd l’un de ses piliers défensifs. C’est désormais officiel : Zineddine Belaïd poursuivra sa carrière en Arabie saoudite sous les couleurs d’Al-Taawoun, après que le club saoudien a levé la clause libératoire fixée à 1,2 million d’euros. Le défenseur international algérien s’envolera dans les prochaines heures vers l’Arabie saoudite afin de passer […]

L’article Mercato JS Kabylie : Zineddine Belaïd s’engage officiellement avec Al-Taawoun ! est apparu en premier sur Shoot Africa.

Nouvelle escalade dans la crise diplomatique entre le Burkina Faso et l’Union européenne : deux responsables de la délégation de l’UE à Ouagadougou ont été déclarés persona non grata, selon l’Agence d’information du Burkina (AIB). D’après les informations de RFI, la décision leur a été notifiée le 14 juillet. Les autorités burkinabè leur ont donnés 72 heures pour quitter le pays. Pour l’heure, aucune explication officielle. Mais cette décision s’inscrit dans un contexte de tensions croissantes avec Bruxelles et la France.

Despite being heavy favourites to pick up a big win over Wales in Durban on Saturday, Springbok assistant coach Deon Davids warned on Tuesday that the steadily improving visitors must not be underestimated.

It has been a disastrous past three years since Wales reached the quarterfinals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, where their loss against Argentina sparked an unbelievable crash that saw them go on to lose 18 consecutive Test matches.

They finally broke that record losing streak with a win over Japan in Kobe in July last year, but since then have won just three times, while losing eight games, showing that they have slightly improved but are still vulnerable.

Worked hard

“They’ve gone through a spell where they’ve worked very hard to get themselves back onto an upward curve. They are a team that has got the better of us before,” said Davids at a Springbok press conference ahead of this weekend’s match.

“I think they would have learned a lot in the Six Nations and also in the game against Argentina (last weekend). You can see clear improvements in their game under Steve Tandy (who took over the team late last year).

“With them coming here and having the opportunity to play against us, this will be another step for them in their journey to improve and become more competitive.

“For us, we approach this as a proper Test match. It’s always about having the same mindset and ensuring that we continue to build our game the way we want to play. We want to build momentum going forward.”

Although the Boks have picked up four massive away wins over Wales over the past three years, thumping them in Cardiff on three occasions, 52-16 in 2023, 45-12 in 2024 and 73-0 in 2025, and 41-13 in London in 2024, they will remember a closely fought home series in 2022.

Heavy favourites

On that occasion the Boks were again heavy favourites to triumph comfortably in the republic, but needed a last gasp Damian Willemse penalty to see an almost full-strength team edge the Welsh 32-29 at Loftus.

The following weekend the Boks made a slew of changes, handing out a number of debuts, and watched a weakened team go down 13-12 in Bloemfontein, which was Wales’ first ever win in South Africa.

The Boks, however, saw out the series relatively comfortably with a decent 30-14 win in Cape Town, which was a carnival atmosphere as it was record cap holder Eben Etzebeth’s 100^th appearance.

It is highly unlikely that Wales will be as competitive this weekend as they were that year, but they have shown by beating Fiji 39-24 in Cardiff, and pushing Argentina before going down 35-21 in San Juan, over the past two weeks, that they won’t be as easy to knock over as they have recently been.

“We expect a very tough game, a very physical game, against a side that simply won’t go away. We’ll have to make sure we execute with quality, put them under pressure, and keep that pressure on them. Then we have to make the most of the opportunities we get in the game,” said Davids.