Smith’s French connection
After the 2015 Rugby World Cup triumph, Conrad Smith could easily have hung up the boots there and then. He was spent. The tank was empty. It had been a hell of an 11-year, 94-test ride with his beloved All Blacks.
He had lived the highs – back-toback World Cups lifted, among every trophy in the game – and been part of the dips – 2007 anyone? – and he had come through to form arguably the finest midfield partnership the All Blacks have ever had, alongside his great mate, and the yin to his yang, Ma’a Nonu.
But when Smith headed to the Pau club in the southwest of France for a one-season post-World Cup deal, he wasn’t sure how much more he had left to give. The toll a 12-season, 94-test All Black career takes on a rugby player should not be underestimated.
Now, nearly two years on from that 2015 Twickenham defining moment, and about to enter his second season with Pau in France’s Top 14 competition, the 35-yearold Kiwi finds himself in a whole different head-space.
Smith feels like a new man. He had no hesitation in agreeing to one more year with Pau to help continue the project Kiwi coach Simon Mannix has started. It will be his last, he is sure of that, but he is so energised by his current situation he has even committed to coming down under in February to play in Duco’s Brisbane Global Tens with the club.
He isn’t sure about the potential prospect of lining up against his old Hurricanes outfit – ‘‘That’s not something I considered when I came to play in France’’ – but the thought of a mid-winter sojourn to sunny Queensland, and a chance to have some fun with Pau’s strong Kiwi contingent in the process, certainly appeals.
Smith, talking to Stuff from his home in France, has found a second wind in his rugby career, helped by the fact his wife, LeeAnne, 3-year-old son Luca and toddler Amelie are thriving in their new home and get to see a heck of a lot more of hubby/dad than they did when he was an All Black.
‘‘They’re loving it,’’ Smith says. The day we speak he has just dropped Luca off at school, where the young Kiwi will further immerse himself in French life.
‘‘My wife, after wanting me to retire the whole time I was in New Zealand, doesn’t want me to stop now. It’s a cool experience living here. I’m home a lot more than I was in New Zealand, which at this stage is the way I want to live my life.
‘‘Like most Kiwis, you love New Zealand, but you also love the chance to travel and to live in Europe.’’
Smith can appreciate the lure of France now for so many Kiwi rugby players who jump at the chance of a salary jump along with a lifestyle change.
It’s not everyone’s glass of vin du rouge, but right now it is certainly Smith’s.
‘‘The rugby side has exceeded expectations,’’ he says. ‘‘The club is in a really good space. I came because I knew Simon, and with what he’s doing and the whole
‘‘I love the season up here. Because we don’t play internationals, and I don’t play a lot of the European games, it’s a good schedule. Conrad Smith
ownership structure – it’s a bit different than some other French clubs which are pretty crazy – it’s a solid setup.
‘‘It’s why I was happy to play another year while the body is still good. It was an easy decision, though it will certainly be my last. I want to finish when I’m still feeling healthy.’’
While much is made of the long, grinding French season, which starts with buildup games as early as July and doesn’t finish until the following June, Smith tells a different story.
‘‘I love the season up here. Because we don’t play internationals, and I don’t play a lot of the European games, it’s a good schedule. There are four or five weeks, then you usually have a week or two off, and the trip is an hour in a bus or a plane. It makes a big difference on the body.
‘‘It all depends. If you were a French player, and at somewhere like Toulon, playing Top 14, Heineken Cup, and then assembling for your national team, I couldn’t imagine a tougher schedule. But for guys like myself, and even Ma’a, not playing internationals, and for me not even playing in Europe, it’s not bad.’’
Smith has plenty of Kiwi company in Pau. Colin Slade, Tom Taylor, Jamie Mackintosh, Benson Stanley, Frank Halai, Peter Saili and Daniel Ramsay have all made it their home.
He’s also coming off a season that got a little interrupted in the tail-end by minor ankle surgery and then a fractured cheekbone. (‘‘I was trying to tackle Jason Eaton, and it didn’t help that I was laughing as I was tackling my old mate, and got my head in the wrong position.’’)
But he feels like he is still playing well enough for one more lap of the track.
‘‘You get to this age and you know how to look after yourself. You would only not play well if you were mentally over it. But, if anything, this has revitalised me.’’
And his plans post this season? Does coaching beckon? A return home, even?
‘‘I’m working pretty hard on a plan,’’ he says. ‘‘Ultimately I want to do what’s best for the family, and we’re pretty happy in France for a wee while yet. I think we’re going to stay over and look at a few opportunities here in Europe, and coaching is one of those.
‘‘But I still don’t see myself as a fulltime coach. Having spent so long in rugby, I don’t want to keep doing the rugby thing. I’ll explore all the options but life in France is too good at the moment.’’
The Brisbane Global Rugby Tens will be held February 9-10, 2018, at Suncorp Stadium.