Bulls sign Kwagga Smith on three-year deal, with a return due at the end of December

The Bulls have signed the 33-year-old Springbok loose forward Kwagga Smith on a three-year contract, and medical experts have cleared him to play again at the end of December.

The deal follows the end of his eight-year stay in Japan. Smith moved there in 2018 to join Yamaha Jubilo, the club now known as the Shizuoka Blue Revs.

His last months in Japan were hard ones. In May 2026 he tore his ACL and meniscus while playing for the Blue Revs. His recovery is now under way, and he is already jogging.

"I’m looking forward to getting back by early next year," Smith said. The timing suits him away from rugby too: he says his wife is pregnant and due in January.

A reunion with Ackermann

The move also brings Smith back together with Bulls head coach Johan Ackermann, who coached him before at the Lions.

"Wherever he goes he makes a difference, and I look forward to him contributing both on and off the field," Ackermann said.

The Bulls are signing a forward with a long list of honours. Smith was in the Springbok squads that won the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups. Before that, playing sevens for the Blitzboks, he won Commonwealth Games gold in 2014 and an Olympic bronze medal in Rio in 2016.