Wayne Smith speaks after refusing England – Rugby News Update
Wayne Smith, the former All Blacks’ assistant coach and the current coach of the Chiefs in New Zealand, recently turned down the chance to work as an attack coach for England, but has praised the head coach, Stuart Lancaster.
Speaking about Lancaster, Smith said that he was impressed by the man, and also added that he was surprised when the head coach of England called him up, while doing recce for the tour of South Africa. He wanted to make clear that his decision to decline
the England job, which has now been given to the Mike Catt, is not a reflection on Lancaster.
Further adding to the reasons, he also mentioned that he had not spoken about finances with the England management, and his refusal had nothing to do with money, as touted by the papers recently.
He said, "I wanted it to be free of monetary influences. We hadn't even talked about the specifics of my role. It was about being in the right place at the right time. And after much thought, that turned out to be in New Zealand with the Chiefs.”
Commenting on the challenges that lay ahead of him in South Africa, where England will play a three-match test series along with two other mid-week games, Smith added that he found Lancaster a person who knows the challenges.
He added, “I wasn't expecting Stuart's call at all, but it was handy to meet, because he was doing a South African recce ahead of the England tour. I found him level-headed, humble and with a real grasp of the challenges."
Smith has the reputation of being a great attacks coach and he is considered the mastermind behind the attacking philosophy of the All Blacks. He was appointed in the New Zealand team management staff in 2004, when Graham Henry was appointed head coach.
Their work culminated in the All Blacks winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Wayne Smith had a short career with New Zealand, playing for the All Blacks 17 times between 1980 and 1985. He made his debut against the Wallabies in 1980 at Sydney and his last match came against Argentina at Buenos Aires in 1985.
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