VIDEO - Brains and Brawn: Kwagga Smith’s winning edge

KENSINGTON, LONDON: Humble off the field but razor-sharp on it, Kwagga Smith is a coach’s dream – the kind of player who sees, understands, and shares every detail.

When Jerry Flannery joined the Springboks last year, Smith was one of the players that caught the new defence coach’s eye, prompting him to describe the livewire flanker as an “on-field coach”.

At the time, Flannery said: “If you talk to Kwagga Smith, man, that guy’s a coach.

“He is 100 percent a coach on the field. He covers so many positions, he’s always aware, he’s always coaching people around him when he plays, and he’s such an unassuming guy.”

Having worked with the 32-year-old Smith for a little over a year now, Flannery hasn’t changed his perception of the Springbok loose forward.

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“Since I’ve come in, and gotten to know the players, and seen how people operate, and I watch how Kwagga operates, I just think he is a guy that takes on detail really well,” he told Rugby365 on Monday as Smith was sitting next to him.

“And he’s able to articulate it to his teammates around him, adding: “It makes the coaches’ job a lot easier when you have players who take on information really well, and they are able to spread that through the team.

“It’s one thing to have a coach before [a game]. It’s another when you are in the game or in training, having teammates around you, helping players is a huge advantage, and I think Kwagga does that really well.”

The versatile Springbok, who plies his trade in Japan, has been open about the strengths and weaknesses of the Brave Blossoms ahead of the Test at Wembley on Saturday.

“I’ve been in Japan for seven seasons now, and there are other guys who have also been there for quite a while.

“So we know some of the players quite well and have a few friends in the squad as well,” Smith said.

“We saw what they did against Australia last weekend; they are definitely a quality team. Obviously, they are also building for the World Cup in 2027.

“They are a team we need to look out for, and we need to prepare well.”

The Japan-based players arrived in London on Tuesday last week, and while they got stuck in with training, they also had time to attend the Rugby League match between England and Australia at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

“The pitch looks quite fast, which could suit the Japanese players who want to play fast rugby,” he said about the hybrid surface at the stadium.

“That said, it looks like a good pitch to play on, so I think it will be a good contest.

Smith said that, although he had never played on such a surface, many of his teammates have in the United Rugby Championship and will know what to expect.

“A whole lot of URC teams have played on hybrid pitches and also in the Premiership, so it may be different for us this week, but that will certainly help going into the match,” said Smith.

“The stadium is amazing, and it was a good game to watch, and also to get a feeling for the stadium and how it is over there. There were 60 000 people at the game, so it was quite fun to watch.”

While the players arrived in different stages over the last few days, with many only arriving in London on Monday morning from their respective franchises and clubs, the hard-working loose forward was grateful that a few players already had a few training sessions under their belt early this week.