Dan Smith

Biography

Dan Smith is credited with introducing the dummy pass to rugby, a trick first seen on the fields of Kimberley that soon spread around the world. Born in Durban on 8 April 1869, he moved to the Diamond Fields in the 1880s, helped found the Pirates club and played 16 times for Griqualand West, five as captain.

A big man who began as a forward and became a nimble halfback, he won his only Test cap against the British Isles in Kimberley in 1891. He later served as chief valuator for De Beers and took up bowls. He died in Sea Point on 27 February 1926.