Smith glad to get that over
THERE was a sense of relief for Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith last night when the opening whistle went.
Smith had been the centre of attention this week as a result of bringing up his century of games for the southern franchise and he admits once the game started he could put it all behind him and get on with playing the game.
‘‘It’s been a long week and everyone was talking about it a bit. I’m a little bit glad it’s over but I’m just stoked that we got the win,’’ he said.
‘‘It was good when the whistle went, as you are competing again. You get to the end of the week and you think about not doing a calf, don’t trip up and do something silly. Once the whistle had gone I thought ‘thank God, now I can just play’.’’
Smith said he was proud the way the team performed against the Rebels and had met the Australians full on.
‘‘We talked about it all week how we had finished the game against the Brumbies and how we wanted to bring that intensity here from the start. And I thought we did that. Maybe not perfect in our execution.
‘‘But our intent in our tackles and with our kicking game, it was brilliant. It was not pretty at times but it was really good seeing guys playing with that confidence again. We were having fun.
‘‘The crowd was awesome and is always awesome here. Hopefully, we get a great crowd for the Blues next week. We can attack that game as we get a bye after that.’’
He said playing 100 games was a huge honour. There was a lot of luck involved around injuries and getting selected.
‘‘They [Highlanders] have stuck with me the whole way . . . I have always had that core around me, Lima [ Sopoaga], Bender [Ben Smith], Elliot Dixon, the whole time I have been here and we’ll be lifelong friends.’’
Highlanders coach Tony Brown said the 50point win was just reward for all the hard training the side had done.
‘‘To get 50 points is probably what we needed at this stage of the season,’’ he said.
‘‘The first two games at home we played some really good footy but just did not get the rub of the green. That got us off to a pretty poor start to the season. It is good to see all the hard work we have put in finally get rewarded with a pretty good performance.
‘‘The confidence has always been there and we train hard and everyone understands our game. But if you do not get the result it adds pressure.
‘‘So for us we have not done anything different.
‘‘We have trained as hard as we normally do, prepared as we normally do. We just put in a pretty complete performance. Maybe the opposition was not as strong but for us we can’t think about that, we have just got to get out and play.
He praised the Highlanders set piece.
‘‘It was great for someone like Aki Seiuli, making what I think is his Highlanders starting debut. I felt as though he was pretty awesome for the first 50 minutes.’’
Fullback and captain Ben Smith missed the game after straining his hamstring on Thursday. It was hoped he would come right after a night’s sleep but he could still feel the injury yesterday and it was decided not to risk him. Brown was unsure whether Smith would be right for next week.
Brown said it was a massive disruption for the side but the team had responded and put that aside.
‘‘Guys like Matt Faddes stepped up well and I thought Luke Whitelock led the team well and had a great game.’’
The Blues come calling next Saturday night and Brown said they would obviously be a different beast to the Rebels.
‘‘Every week we just start the week and prepare as well as we can and perform as well as we can. We will have a few beers tonight and then get ready for them on Monday. The Blues are a different beast and we have to play different to beat them.’’
The Rebels were a jaded lot after the game. Winless after five games, the side had a disrupted week with flights and players coming in and out of the team.
But it is hard to see where it goes from here. The one positive is that it has hit rock bottom so the only way is up.
❛ It’s been a long week and everyone was talking about it a bit. I’m a little bit glad it’s over . . . ❜ — Aaron Smith on playing his 100th match for the Highlanders