Cheeky Smith joins 100 club
"He had the youth, he had the energy, and I was coming to the end of my time playing in New Zealand." Jimmy Cowan on Aaron Smith
The man who Aaron Smith controversially ousted as the Highlanders No 9 says, despite the rivalry, he was aware from day one Smith had something special about him.
Smith will tonight play his 100th Super Rugby game for the Highlanders when they play the Melbourne Rebels in Dunedin.
For the first two years of Smith’s tenure at the Highlanders in 2011 and 2012, he butted heads with then All Black halfback Jimmy Cowan.
From the outset, Smith made it clear he wanted Cowan’s No 9 jersey.
It included a cheeky suggestion to Cowan’s face in Pretoria following a Highlanders win over the Bulls that he felt he should be starting ahead of Cowan.
It was a bold move considering earlier that day Smith had just made his Super Rugby debut as a substitute and Cowan was an incumbent All Black halfback at the time.
Cowan remained as the regular starter throughout the 2011 season, before the transition happened in 2012.
Cowan started the first game in 2012, before Smith took the reins for the majority of the remainder of the season.
The other twist that season was Cowan was set to bring up a fairytale milestone by playing his 100th Super Rugby game at his home ground in Invercargill.
A marketing push had already started, but just a couple of weeks earlier coach Jamie Joseph opted to not use Cowan at all from the bench and instead the game in Invercargill turned out to be his 99th cap.
Instead Cowan brought up game No 100 a week later when he came off the bench against the Stormers in Dunedin.
‘‘Looking back at it, you want to be playing, don’t you? I was no different,’’ Cowan said.
‘‘I had Aaron Smith coming at me very very quickly, and he was playing very good rugby.
‘‘It was a matter of time, wasn’t it? He had the youth, he had the energy, and I was coming to the end of my time playing in New Zealand.
‘‘I’ve got a lot of time for Aaron Smith. It just shows you what he has done in the Highlanders jersey, he’s a remarkable guy and I’m a huge fan of his.’’
Highlanders coach Tony Brown has asked Cowan to spend the day with the Highlanders on Friday as his old halfback sparring partner joins him in the Highlanders 100 game club.
Cowan said for him, Smith’s confidence and his sublime pass, stood out in the early days suggesting he would have a big career ahead.
‘‘You could tell he was talent. When he first arrived down [to Dunedin] in his first year he used to tell me he should be starting from the outset.
‘‘He wasn’t cocky, but he was very confident in his ability. Right from the start you could tell he had a beautiful pass,’’ Cowan said.
‘‘For him to play 100 games in such a short space of time is remarkable. It’s cool to see the growth of his game and he’s probably been the world’s best halfback for the past four of five years.’’
Smith will join Cowan, Anton Oliver, Chris King and Ben Smith to play 100 games for the Highlanders.