Interview with Wayne Smith - Smudger talks!

By Dave Percy
February 16 2004

On the day the news broke that Saints coach Wayne Smith was indeed heading back home to assist Graham Henry in coaching the All Blacks, Dave Percy caught up with him in Heroes bar.

DP. ‘Wayne, you have been here in Northampton since December 2001, was it a tough decision to leave, and become a part of the All Blacks coaching set up’?

WS. ‘It wasn’t an easy decision, in that we’re very settled here, it’s been an absolute privilege to coach this club, it’s got a spirit and a rapport with the fans that you seldom see, so I’m leaving what’s been a really big part of our lives for the last three years, but difficult in the end, no, because of what the All Blacks mean to me, and what they mean to any Kiwi really, and it’s hard to explain to many people, but, you know, it’s been a part of my life now for so long, the All Blacks set up, I’ve got Black blood in my veins, so that I was just never going to say no, once that they decided that they wanted me’.

DP. ‘ You must be relishing the thought of coaching against some of your former international players?’

WS. (Laughs) ‘There will be some interesting battles ahead, I’m sure, but I am really just looking forward to ‘battling’ against those guys like Daws, Ben, Grace, Wally, I’ve got a huge respect for them all, Tom Smith as well, it will be strange coaching against them, I know what a challenge it will be, but it’s exciting as well.’

DP. ‘What can you take back from coaching here in Northampton, and take to New Zealand to put into practice with the All Blacks’?

WS. ‘Well there a lot of things really, I’m a better coach now than when I came, as we’re coached in such a tough environment, yesterday against Saracens was our twenty-eighth game on the trot since the start of pre-season, that’s a lot of Rugby, and you’ve got to, week after week after week, you’ve got to adapt to the next game, systems have to be really sharp at de-briefing the last game, and analysing the next opponent, you’ve got player burn out to contend with, I’ve got a new respect to recovery, and the maintenance of freshness and enthusiasm of the players, there are a lot of things, and then there’s the technical side of the forward play here that I feel is much more attrition and much tougher than it is in the Southern Hemisphere, and perhaps that’s down to refereeing interpretation, whether it’s just a state of mind I’m not too sure, but it’s certainly something that has got to come back into New Zealand Rugby, we’ve got to be able to set a platform and play a game that regroups the opposition forwards through driving play, and through penetration up front, that takes toughness that they’ve got here, I’m certain that we’ve got the players, so it’s just a mind set thing.’

DP. ’What do you know about incoming coach Alan Solomons’?

WS. ‘I’ve coached against Sollys’ on a lot of occasions, and know him really well from both meeting him after games, but also through different conferences we went to, he’s a top class coach, he was very successful with Western Province Stormers, he coached with Nick Mallett with the Springboks, of course he’s been at Ulster, so, not only locked horns with him in New Zealand, but also over here, and he’s put together a really strong record, and I’m certain that when he sits down and looks at the systems and decides what to keep, and what he wants to throw out he will then set about enhancing what’s already pretty good here’.

DP. ‘Finally, Wayne, what’s the Saintly memory that you will take back home with you’?

WS. ‘Not one thing really, more the relationships that we have developed is a thing that I will remember, I’m certain that we have got some friends for life from this experience, that’s what I will take away.’

DP.’ Thank you very much, Wayne, and good luck for the future.’


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