His business interests and pride in the Cheetahs jersey made it easy for Juan Smith to renew his contract with the Free State Rugby Union.
Article By Hendrik Cronjé and Jóhann Thormählen
The 28-year-old Smith owns a butchery in Bloemfontein and also farms with cattle between Bloemfontein and Kimberley.
Smith’s agent, Stephan Weyers, confirmed on Thursday that the Lions and Sharks were interested in signing him.
A number of offers from overseas were also on the table, but the Cheetahs captain did not want to risk jeopardising his Springbok career by accepting one of those prior to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.
“He signed a contract for a further two years with the Cheetahs. Juan also has a Springbok contract that runs until the end of next year. One can only admire his loyalty,” said Weyers.
“Every year he receives offers for more than double his annual salary (against what he earns at the Cheetahs). The Cheetahs are privileged to have such a leader.”
Smith’s decision follows a recent announcement by the Cheetahs that Springbok tighthead prop CJ van der Linde will play for them in the Currie Cup.
Unfortunately for the Cheetahs, Van der Linde may be one of the Boks the South African Rugby Union would like to see rested during the Currie Cup, but may well be available for a possible semifinal and final.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské believes that the decisions by Smith and Van der Linde can lure a number of other players to the team, as well as convince local stars to stick around in the region.
Smith made his Currie Cup debut for the Cheetahs in 2002 when he formed a loose forward combination with Rassie Erasmus and André Venter.
Smith has represented the Boks in 62 Tests and should be available for the home Tri-Nations Tests against the Wallabies and All Blacks following his recent groin operation.
Respect , from this old fashioned Bul. I am so glad that Juan did use his rugby to secure a future for him, a life after Rugby. That i feel must be done by more and more players instead of running from Union to Union for quick cash. Build you name for the future.
Contract disputes starts with the player himself. Juan Smth sets an example what attitude means.
snaaks dat die grootste name in bok rugby ook die lojaalste is.juaan jou statuur in my oe het so pas nog groter geraak,well done
A true loyal Cheetahs man. He must have turned down some serious offers.
Wonder how many years he has left, how old is he now?
I take my hat of to Juan. That is royal person. Plenty respect for Juan for sticking by his team no matter what.
Good to see he has thought of life after rugby too. Get those butchers out to all the big cities Juan, under your name. Those butcher shops would be supported by just about every rugby supporter.
Hats off to you, Juan!
@ Winston:
5 – Winston, Think Juan will be 29 next year. So he has a few years left.
@ fender:
7 – Morning Fender, You looking forward to the Boks this Saturday? Pity we never had our top team there. Though think there are plenty talent in that side. Just don’t think we had enough game time to gel.
So rather looking forward to the game against France the next week. Just hope no injuries during the Wales game. Cause I think this game should never have been accepted by saru. Just too hectic for our players.
RESPEK !!!!
Mooi Juan, wys die manne hoe dit gedoen word.
@ Puma:
6 – typo there. royal = loyal 🙄
Morning Puma,
Must agree with you questioning the need for this game. Same goes for the EOY tours – we’re simply asking too much from a limited amount of players. Yes, I know they’re pro but there’s only so much a body can take.
I think we should do what the Northern Hemisphere has been doing for years i.e. save your best team for the important competitions and use the other games to give the “possibles” a run. Why not use the players already playing in Britain and France for our Northern Hemisphere commitments to give our home based and elite Boks a break?
It will mean that we, the public wil have to adjust our expectations of the Boks – they’re not going to be klapping everyone left right and centre – but hey, we adjust our expectations with the Proteas all the time, don’t we?!! 😉 So, it can be done…..
So, I expect a scrambling performance tomorrow…and hopefully a win.
Ja, Juan is ‘n groot yster, mooi so vir hom. Geld is nie alles nie. Hoop sy voorbeeld laat manne soos Brussow en Bosman by die Ctahs bly. Jammer dat hul reeds vir Mapoe verloor het.
Dink more se wedstryd gaan ietwat van ‘n getjommel afgee, omdat die ouens nie as ‘n span al saam gespeel het nie. Hoop vir ‘n wen, maar ons moet nie te veel verwag nie.
Sou beter gewees het as ons Italie eers gespeel het voor Franse, sou die ouens weer kans gegee het om saam te speel. Maar, die belangrikste is die 3N, so hopelik is die beseerdes almal reg, en dan kan ons bestes weer daar wen.
VRYSTAAAAAA!
Loosehead, you still got that roadie around?
uhm people forget he grew up with lots, family farm etc
yes fantastic player and person and the businesses he has keeps him where he is
but dont sit here ande judge or begruge others from making their living
Sharkey, given the prevailing and popular understanding/deception that ‘one can never have enough money’, Juan’s decision to remain with the Cheetahs flies in the face of this philosophy and as a bare minimum deserves to be recognised for exactly that.
I have to agree… respect Juan Smith… good old old fashioned values of Family, Loyalty, Respect, Right Priorities, Business sense….
16@ sharky_forever:
Who in comments 1 – 15 sat there and begrudged anybody??
Nobody’s begrudging other players to move and earn a living, but even you would have to agree that certain players take it a bit far and become hired soldiers or money whores in the process…. guns for hire, geldslette… loyal to themselves only.
I personally think a lot of the moving around can be ascribed to the biggest guns for hire, the real hitmen…. player agents… it seems that they only see € signs everywhere.
Some players have really been around the block though, playing for 4 or 5 Super 14 Franchises, like Wylie Human, now that’s taking it just too far in my opinion….
Making a living is fair and well, but one can do it with dignity, resolve, pride and good values too…
Wylie Human played overseas as well. Wylie was never good enough to be no 1 in a team.
I have no problem with a player if he completes his contract and then move. Habana is a good example of this. The problem is those players, agents etc who do not honour their contracts.
Fender, check your mail.
@ sharky_forever:
Fukken bastard poachers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😆
@ Loosehead: 21 – Loosehead, So we are 😆 Then we poach them young and turn em into Boks 😀 So not too bad eh?
I’m glad for the Cheetahs that they will have at least one decent player come the CC.
@ fender:12 – Fender must say we have great depth in SA. WE never had this amount of depth 6 years back. Now all of a sudden we have great players in all positions, knocking on the Bok door, that will keep the first side on their toes so to speak. I would rather we sent all of those players over for this game. Rested our first choice players for the French game.
I do think we have some fantastic talent in this side for tomorrow. Only problem is game time together.
Also not sure about Joe being selected. I would have given Kanko a chance. He is right here playing his rugby and has had a brilliant season this year. Should have been the one to start. Joe on the bench. Also would have liked to have seen Deysel on this tour. He has been outstanding for the Sharks. Think he got a raw deal by not getting a call up. Also Kockott was brilliant when he was playing. Has been for a long,long time. Think he too has been ignored and should have had a call up for this game. In PdV words, like he said about Butch, we know what we have in Ricky. I would have tested out Kockott on this tour. He and Ruan were superb together against Stormers.
Suppose only just so much places and we have far too much talent to all get selected.
@ Snoek: 23 – Snoek….hehehehe.
Cheetahs did end well in their S14.
Hope Sharks do well in the CC. Think we can play most of our players seeing we never made the semi in the S14. Maybe some contracted Boks will have to rest.
Everytime I log on here everyone is off to lunch or somewhere.
Back later.
I see Juan’s staying at the cheetahs in the following light.
Lets use this as an example.
Fender is agood Guitar player, who earns a decent amount of money with his guitar playing around the country and sometimes he even have some gigs overseas. He has a job in good oll Cape Town, and that is where his friends and family resides. He loves his family and wants to spend as much time with them as possible during his daily working activities. He has other business interests, and he will probarbly retire one day in his sixties having lived a good life drinking Checkers wine.
Now fender could move to JHB where the music industry is in SA, and earn much more money there which will enable him to have more options with his financial life in the future, and he might even retire at the age of fifty so that he can spend all his time in his later life with his family and friends, and drink some of the better wine available to him.
Now Fender could be very bold and move overseas, earn millions of rands with his guitar and come back to SA in his early thirties with more cash than what is good for him. He could set himself and his family up with all his money that all of them can have a financially stress free life with the best wine money can buy.
Life is about choice, and you must always choose to better yourself, because the people promising you things today will not always be there tomorow to help you when you are in trouble.
Names used in this example is fabricated and in no way resembles people on this blog. 😆
Snoek, the only major problem I have with your case study is the part about Fender being a good guitarist… 😉
snoek @ 27
lmao
now THAT was good!!
😆 😆 😆
@ Snoek:
Snoek wrote:
Long term investment, low risk. Happy friends in his home town when he turns 70 everyone will remember him as the loyal old Springbok. Owns a shop or a sportsbar where friends visit daily, great lifetime friends. Give motivational speeches at schools in his area.
Snoek wrote:
Medium risk also some friends not necessarily loyal ones, more the ones that leave when he goes trough difficult times. Works for SS
Snoek wrote:
High risk, no friends, live in a security village where no one is a friend just a envious neighbor. Guest speaker at AA.Rich and alone.
😆
You can see where this advice comes from a kripvreter for life.
You work out what is a kripvreter yourself . 😆
Users Online
Total 49 users including 0 member, 49 guests, 0 bot online
Most users ever online were 3735, on 31 August 2022 @ 6:23 pm
No Counter as from 31 October 2009: 39,569,175 Page Impressions
_