One of SA's most underrated stars jets in for cracker showdown with Bok

SPOTLIGHT: Benetton’s fullback Rhyno Smith is arguably one of the best non-international players on the scene.

The 32-year-old is currently in South Africa as part of Benetton’s touring squad that is gearing up to face the Lions in Round 15 of the United Rugby Championship at Ellis Park on Saturday.

His duel with Lions fullback Quan Horn should be one of the highlights this weekend.

This is one South African player who has been unlucky not to get recognised at Test level, but it has not deterred him on his rugby journey from Paarl, Potchefstroom, Durban, Bloemfontein, and finally ending up in Treviso, Italy.

Whether he is kicking drop goals, scoring unreal tries, or slotting penalties from the halfway line, he can do it all.

Smith attended the prestigious Paarl Boys High, which produced Springboks like Carel du Plessis, Corne Krige and Frans Malherbe, but Smith was overlooked at provincial age-group level.

Then, after getting his breakthrough and a contract with the Sharks, his career again stalled.

“I played in the second XV for the Leopards, was player of the year in Varsity Cup, and then I got signed by the Sharks,” told the Varsity Cup website a few years ago.

“My career stalled for a bit; I didn’t play that much rugby, then went to the Springbok Sevens, which was an amazing experience, and then the door opened to me.

“For three years I was at the Sharks and was healthy and ready to play, and I just wasn’t being selected, wasn’t being given a chance, so there’s so much pent-up energy, so many thoughts, and there was a lot of negativity at the time,” he recounted.

In October 2018, Smith joined the Cheetahs on a five-week loan deal.

Then, July 2019 saw him sign a deal to head back to Bloemfontein with the Cheetahs after previously playing for the team in the PRO14 during the 2018/19 season.

The move to the Cheetahs paid off for Smith, who unsurprisingly rates diminutive Springbok speedsters of yore Gio Aplon and Breyton Paulse as his childhood heroes.

In 2020, he was the top try scorer in the PRO14, scoring 10 tries, six at home in Bloemfontein and four on the road. He was also one of the leading metre makers in the competition.

In 2021, he signed with Benetton, where he excelled even more, showcasing his special talents as a versatile back and valuable goal kicker.

In June 2022, Smith formed part of a Barbarian side that faced Spain in Gijon after a sterling URC season when he was the third-highest points-scorer in the competition.

“With the previous mindset and growing up in Paarl, I always thought there was a market for me abroad, and I always liked the idea of living overseas as well.

“So I’m very happy where I’m at now, and grateful for the opportunity with Benetton, and getting to explore this exciting adventure,” was quoted as saying on unitedrugby.com.

Smith is not eligible to play for Italy as he represented South Africa in Sevens.

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Benetton announced a strong touring squad for their two-match tour of South Africa.

While they are missing Los Pumas flyhalf Tomas Albornoz due to injury and Italian nationals Sebastian Negri and Alessandro Izekor, they will still feature an almost all-Test-cap line-up this weekend.

Benetton touring squad: 

Forwards: Bautista Bernasconi, Lorenzo Cannone, Niccolò Cannone, Riccardo Favretto, Simone Ferrari, Thomas Gallo, Toa Halafihi, Michele Lamaro, Siua Maile, Marco Manfredi, Ivan Nemer, Tiziano Pasquali, Federico Ruzza, Scott Scrafton, Eli Snyman, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosuè Zilocchi, Manuel Zuliani

Backs: Ignacio Brex, Nicolò Casilio, Malakai Fekitoa, Alessandro Garbisi, Leonardo Marin, Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Paolo Odogwu, Rhyno Smith, Jacob Umaga, Andy Uren, Federico Zanandrea