Nelie Smith


Cornelius Michael 'Nelie' Smith was a South African rugby union player and coach.

Playing career

Smith made his provincial debut at scrumhalf for Free State during the 1956 season and went on to play 60 matches for Free State, captaining them 37 times. He also played four matches for Griqualand West.
He made his test debut for the Springboks during the Australian rugby tour of 1963 in the third test on 24 August 1963 at the Ellis Park in Johannesburg. South Africa lost the match 9–11, with Smith scoring all nine points. Smith scored twelve points in seven test matches for South Africa and captained the team in four tests. He also played in twelve tour matches and scored a further nine points for the Springboks.

Test history

Coaching career

Smith coached numerous teams, both in South Africa and internationally. His first big success as a coach was in 1976, when he and Sakkie van Zyl, coached the Free State to its first Currie Cup title. He was the Springboks coach in 1980 when the Springboks defeated Billy Beaumont's Lions and in 1981 he was the coach during the Springbok tour of New Zealand and the United States.