We look at 10 occasions when rugby really didn’t go to plan and everyone was left surprised.
The beauty of rugby is that it doesn’t always go according to plan. We look at 10 of the biggest surprises of recent times.
Wayne Smith losing All Black job
Having been a good test player and then a highly successful coach with the Crusaders, it was a natural progression for Wayne Smith to be appointed to the helm of the All Blacks after the 1999 World Cup.
He was the natural choice. A supremely intelligent, articulate and creative man, Smith was the ideal prototype for the professional age.
He had old school values but knew how to present them to a younger generation: he knew how to motivate and organise Generation X as his results proved.
In 2000, Smith’s first year, the All Blacks won seven of their 10 games and then three more in June 2001 before being pipped for the Tri Nations title in the last minute in Sydney. It was a cruel blow and one Smith felt deeply – so deeply that he challenged whether he was the right man to stay as coach. It was typically honest and selfless of him and perhaps if he had his time again, he would have kept his fears to himself because his honesty alarmed the New Zealand Rugby Union board and they invited candidates to interview.
Smith, having thought about it, realised he did want to carry on and delivered, by all accounts, the most compelling presentation. But the damage was done by then so to speak and the board, made the entirely surprise move of appointing the youngest and least experienced of the candidates – Chiefs coach John Mitchell.