Gert Petrus Smal (born 27 December 1961,

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and assistant coach of the South African and Irish national rugby union teams. He is currently the forwards coach at Japanese Top League team Toyota Verblitz.

Playing career

Club career

Gert Smal was a flanker with Western Transvaal from 1980 to 1983 then played with

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

from 1984 to 1985. After the appointment of former Springboks coach Nelie Smith for the Italian club

Rugby Rovigo Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10 (rugby union), Serie A Élite. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. Overview The club was founded in 1935 by medical ...

, he moved there in 1986, soon becoming a key element for the achievement of two national titles (1988 and 1990), alongside fellow South Africans

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player who played as a Fly-half for Northern Transvaal, Rugby Rovigo and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted SA Rugby Player of the Year in ...

and Tito Lupini. During his time in Italy, he also helped

reach another final (1989). The Smith-Lupini-Botha-Smal era is still fondly remembered in

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune in the region of Veneto, Northeast Italy, the capital of the province of Rovigo, eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Veni ...

, the most rugby addicted city in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, for the impact it had in ending a 9 years winning drought for the team.

Provincial/International career

Smal had a limited international playing career due to the international boycott of South African sports teams because of the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime which ended in 1992. He captained South African Gazelles (U24 side) in 1984. He turned out for the Springboks against the touring

New Zealand Cavaliers The Cavaliers was an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986. Because of the Apartheid policies of the South African government, the official New Zealand Rugby Union tour scheduled for 1985 was cancelled, and t ...

in 1986, against a World Invitation XV in 1989 and a Serge Blanco World XV team against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He also represented Western Province between 1984 and 1993 and the South African Defence Forces in 1986 and 1987.

Retirement from playing

On the Australasian tour with Western Province in 1993, during a match against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Smal received a blow in the mouth causing him to lose vision in the bottom corner of his left eye forcing his retirement from playing.

Coaching career

Following the end of his playing career, he was appointed to a number of key coaching positions in South Africa and held coaching positions at the Border Bulldogs (1998–99), Western Province (2000–02) when they twice won the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

and then with the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

in the Super 12 between 2003 and 2005, reaching the semi-finals in 2004. In 2004, Smal was appointed to the South African team management as assistant coach to

Jake White Jacob Charles White (born 13 December 1963 as Jacob Westerduin) is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 ...

, during which time the Springboks won the Tri-Nations championship in 2004 before winning the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

. When Jake White was replaced by Peter de Villiers as head coach following the world cup in 2007, Smal offered to develop rugby in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

but was turned down by the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board ...

In June 2008, Smal was appointed forwards coach to the Irish National team under

Declan Kidney Declan Kidney (born 20 October 1959) is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year a ...

. During Smal's time at Ireland, they won the 2009 Six Nations completing the Grand Slam for the first time in 61 years. His assistance was key in Ireland's victory over the 2007 World Champions and Tri Nations 2009 champions South Africa during the 2009 Autumn Internationals where he taught the Irish

pack Pack or packs may refer to: Music * Packs (band), a Canadian indie rock band * ''Packs'' (album), by Your Old Droog * ''Packs'', a Berner album Places * Pack, Styria, defunct Austrian municipality * Pack, Missouri, United States (US) * ...

some

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

so that they could read the opposition's line out calls. In June 2011, he signed a contract extension with the IRFU. Smal was forced to miss the remainder of the 2012 Six Nations Championship after an eye condition struck him. His temporary replacement was

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

forwards coach Anthony Foley. Smal's contract with Ireland ended in 2013 after which he chose to return to South Africa. In 2014, Smal was appointed the Director of Rugby at. He then left Western Province in 2019 to join Jake White at Japanese club team Toyota Verblitz where he is currently the forwards coach.

Achievements

1984, 85 & 86 with Western Province as player. * Serie A1 Championship with

as player: 1988 and 1990. *

2000 & 2001 with Western Province as head coach. * Tri Nations 2004, with

as assistant coach. *

with

as assistant coach. * 2009 Six Nations with

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

as forward coach. *

2014 & 2017 with Western Province as Director of Rugby.

Personal life

He is married to Patti and they have two children, a son Dean and daughter Tamarin.

References

External links

IRFU Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smal, Gert Living people 1961 births South African rugby union players South African rugby union coaches White South African people South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Western Province (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Kimberley, Northern Cape Rugby Rovigo Delta players South African expatriate rugby union players in Italy Stellenbosch RFC players