Petrus Francois Smith is a South African former rugby union player and current Head Coach of the Italy. His regular playing position was fly-half or centre.
Playing career
Youth
Smith went to Hoërskool Sand du Plessis in Bloemfontein, where he earned a selection to the Under-18 Craven Week team in 1990. In 1991 and 1992, he regularly appeared for the Free State Under-20 side, as well as for the University of the Free State's rugby team, Shimlas. He also captained a South African Universities team that played against a South African Army XV.
He made his first class debut in September 1992, playing at centre for the 's match against in Round Two of the 1992 Lion Cup competition. He remained with the Bloemfontein-based outfit until 1995, mainly appearing for their B team or as a replacement.
Griquas
In 1996, Smith joined Kimberley-based side. After one season playing for Griquas, Smith played himself into Springbok contention and was named in a 36-man squad at the end of the year. He toured with the Springboks to Argentina, Wales and France and featured in several tour matches, but did not feature in any test matches.
At the start of 1998, Springbok coach Nick Mallett requested that Smith was loaned from the to the for the 1998 Super 12 season. He quickly established himself in the team and was also the leading South African points scorer at a point during the competition before a knee injury forced him to miss the final four rounds. He also made the move to Pretoria a permanent one and represented the in the 1998 Currie Cup. He also played for the in the 1999 Super 12 season and for the in the 1999 Currie Cup.
He moved to Witbank, where he played for the in the 2001 Currie Cup, before he had a short spell at Italian side :it:Rugby Bologna 1928|Bologna. He returned to play for the for the 2002 season and was once again included in the ' squad for the 2002 Super 12 season.
Smith returned to Italy to join Treviso at the end of 2002. He remained there for four seasons, making 60 appearances for the side. During his time at the club, he won the National Championship of Excellence with them in 2002–2003 and in 2003–2004 and also won the Coppa Italia in 2005.
Return to Free State Cheetahs
He returned to South Africa and to the side where it all started, the, where he was included in their squad for the 2005 Currie Cup Premier Division, but failed to make an appearance. He retired at the end of 2005 to become the backline coach for the Free State Cheetahs.
South Africa
Smith played nine test matches for South Africa. He made his debut on 6 December 1997 against and his last test match was on 7 August 1999 against.
Coaching career
Free State Cheetahs
His first foray into coaching was to become the backline coach of the in 2006.
Treviso
After 18 months in that job, he returned to Italy to take over as head coach of former side Treviso. He guided them to two National Championship of Excellence titles in 2008–2009 and in 2009–2010, as well as one Coppa Italia in 2010 and one Italian Supercup in 2009. He resigned in December 2013.
Shimlas / Free State Cheetahs / Cheetahs
Upon his return to South Africa, he was re-appointed in his former role as backline coach of the. He was also appointed as the head coach of university side and he guided them to their first ever Varsity Cup championship in his first season in charge of the side. In May 2015, it was announced that he would take over as head coach of the. A mere four days later, following incumbent head coach Naka Drotské's decision to retire, Smith was also named as head coach of their affiliated Super Rugby side, the.
Italy
On November 21, 2019 Franco Smith was named as Italy's interim head coach following the resignation of Conor O'Shea. Smith coached the team during their 2020 Six Nations Championship campaign. He appointment was made permanent on June 1, 2020.
