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When David Smith stepped off the plane from Samoa and on to a rugby field in Auckland there was one thing he noticed pretty quickly. In New Zealand, there were rules.
The structure, discipline and emphasis on skills was a far cry from the rough and tumble anything
goes approach to the game in his native Apia.
"[Rugby] is hard, like life in Samoa," said Smith.
"When you play you get the high tackles and then [someone] will stand up and punch someone. They are mental, the players there. It is really hard. The players over there don't care if they tackle high. When I came to New Zealand they had rules."
Another thing this country had was a rugby machine capable of taking a raw talent like Smith - who could run the 100m in 10.48s as a schoolboy - and moulding him into a polished international rugby player.
Smith was only too happy to feed himself into that machine.
He wants to work hard, listen, learn and then do a bit more hard work, he says.
He's certainly doing okay on the listening front. As we chat before Auckland's training session, assistant coach Shane Howarth wanders past.
"Always mention the coaches," suggests Howarth.
Smith follows orders. The coaches have been great in helping him chase his dream - representing the All Blacks, he says.
Supremely talented, humble and, perhaps most importantly, pliable, Smith is a work in progress. If he comes across as genial but slightly pre-programmed, it's most likely down to the combination of learning English as a second language while also undergoing training in dealing with the media.
He sticks carefully to what he knows. Probably not a bad policy. But in talking to him you get little sense of the person who can set crowds alight with a simple sidestep, who is widely tipped to be the next big thing, who sparks memories of All Black great BeeGee Williams in full flight in those who should know.
"I guess he reminded me of myself in many ways in terms of the left-foot sidestep and acceleration," says Williams, whose mentoring has eased Smith's passage through the ranks.
Williams is widely credited with discovering Smith, but it's a tag he shuns. Uaea Apelu, who helped Williams coach Manu Samoa, did the discovering, while Mt Albert Grammar coach Brett Kingstone was the person who brought him to New Zealand on a scholarship.
But Williams did advise Smith to join Ponsonby when his family would have preferred Marist, a move that helped keep him on the fast track to the Auckland team.
"His development is coming along nicely," says Williams.
"I think he'll have another big Air New Zealand Cup and with guys moving off shore it could well be that he moves on to higher honours.
"He's a very busy player and he's just got a great attitude. He is very modest and humble. I think he'll always keep his feet on the ground, which is important at this level. If you get too big headed or too big for you boots you are going to get sorted out pretty quick."
Smith exploded on to the scene in the early stages of last year's national championship and made a similar early impression in the capital after joining the Hurricanes via the Super 14 draft. But he faded in the latter stages of the tournament and will be looking to re-establish himself this season at Auckland.
If he has tended to blow a bit hot and cold, Williams put it down to a learning process.
"The grind of Super 14, the constant training and travelling, takes some getting used to. He possibly tends to try a bit too much by himself. He can turn over ball and make the odd unforced error but, again, that's an experience thing."
Smith believes he is learning those lessons - "I want to show the coaches what I learned from Super 14" - but he still gives the impression of being a touch overawed at the company he now keeps.
Last year when he broke into the Auckland team he was "scared" he might not have the necessary skills.
Going to Wellington was an equally daunting experience.
"When I went to the Hurricanes it was another level, a step up. Tana [Umaga] was like my hero. Watching him when I was growing up I was thinking, 'I want to be like Tana'. He's a legend. When I went to the Hurricanes it was so exciting seeing him, playing with him, talking to him."
Next year he has his heart set on playing for the Blues, the team he followed growing up in Samoa and, if all goes well, maybe even the All Blacks.
To do that, he'll need to avoid second-season syndrome, the down year that can affect young players after their breakthrough season.
"It was a good year last year, but that is in the past. Last year is gone. This year is going to be another big year, another step up. I am just going to play the game, keep learning and train hard."