His future after ABs
as a player, 14 as coach – and close to 200 games. It’s a big chunk of his life; a long time away from family.
Over the years hotels blur into one and travel fatigue gathers. He still loves his role but the development of technology and analysis, a side of the game he has driven, has increased workloads significantly. He’s constantly thinking ahead about future opposition; cutting clips and compressing data to what’s important for the players to view.
‘‘The workload is massive. You never get on top of it. When everyone else has a day off coaches don’t. You have an easier day but you’ve still got to sit down and do your work. That’s just the life of a coach.
‘‘When you find things that make you win you keep working at them and that’s been successful for us.’’
Smith isn’t about to state definitively next year will be his last with the All Blacks. He knows Hansen won’t let him go quietly, and could easily change his mind. But with things like a 14-week-old grandson to now consider, he seems to be leaning towards taking a step back at that juncture. Appearances are deceiving in his case but Smith turns 60 in April and clearly misses those at home.
‘‘My fear has always been when you’ve had as many games as I have in the environment that it maybe gets a little stale and it’s time to move on.
‘‘The right time won’t be too far away because you always need to bring in fresh ideas. You look at guys like John Plumtree [Hurricanes] and Scott McLeod [Highlanders] for example who are innovative in the way they approach defence in their teams. They’re both hugely capable coaches that I’m sure could do this job when I go.’’
Smith is also close to New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew, having worked with him at the Crusaders.
‘‘There’s a lot of loyalty there. I have been overseas but I never had to go. They’ve always looked after me. There’s a lot of that going on but sooner or later my age and family will determine it’ll be the right time to go.’’
When that time comes don’t expect Smith’s seemingly endless rugby knowledge to be sold to the highest overseas bidder. If it was about money, he would’ve jumped at a $1 million offer to join English club Harlequins this year. There’s been other suitors, too. Smith’s passion is directly and probably indefinitely aligned to New Zealand.
From Tana Umaga to Todd Blackadder, Tabai Matson, Tony Brown, Chris Boyd, Alistair Rogers, Plumtree and, of course, Dave Rennie at the Chiefs, Smith has helped mentor many leading Kiwi coaches. He loves getting around the Super Rugby franchises to lend a hand wherever needed. That’s what he intends to do next.
‘‘It’s something when I do finish that I want to carry on. I’d like to work with those guys; pay them visits and be available as a resource and help New Zealand rugby that way. That’s probably going to be my future path eventually.’’