All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea with halfback Aaron Smith after his 100th test - after the 2021 Bledisloe Cup Test rugby match between the All Blacks and Australia. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea with halfback Aaron Smith after his 100th test - after the 2021 Bledisloe Cup Test rugby match between the All Blacks and Australia. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
As special as his 100th test was, Aaron Smith will gladly welcome a little more normality.
A goal he longed to fulfil is ticked and Smith can now resume his passion of striving to be the world's best halfback, without any distractions.
It's fair to say staying focused, calm, clearahead of the opening Bledisloe at Eden Park proved challenging for Smith.
As much as he tried to keep everything as normal as possible, it was never going to be any other week.
As much as he tried to push the looming milestone to the back of his mind, to concentrate on the task at hand and go through his usual meticulous preparation, distractions were ever-present.
Sorting tickets and transport for family and friends alone never happened to this degree before.
Smith went out of his way to minimise anything that could cloud his judgement or compromise his performance. He requested not to do any media until after the match, and just before the warm-up even told captain Sam Whitelock he didn't want to lead the team out, as is customary to acknowledge major milestones.
"I didn't want to run out first because this team means more to me than doing that," Smith said after becoming the All Blacks' 10th test centurion. "Sam is the captain, he runs out first. I wanted it to be as normal as possible. I had the huge honour of leading the haka and I take that with a lot of pride.
"For me the celebration only comes after, once the whistle had gone and the ball is kicked off and you play your 100th game.
Aaron Smith of the All Blacks celebrates his 100th game with his wife Teagan Voykovich and son Luka. Photo / Getty Images.
"I take a lot of pride in the way I prepare for tests. I was a bit shaky in that first 15, probably 30. We talked about our intensity levels and I was very tight. I'm glad I was able to build into the game and my passing came back to me finally. The jersey demands you put it first always and that's what I wanted to do tonight."
Such an achievement – Smith is the first halfback and Māori to play 100 tests for the All Blacks - will take time to sink in. In the moments immediately after the All Blacks 33-25 victory Smith was presented with his cap, which he kept on all evening. In his speech he thanked wife Teagan and posed for photos with their son, Luka.
Yet having pushed himself to reach the figure, the prevailing emotion was a sense of relief.
"I'm floating, still buzzing. I'm pretty excited to get to a Monday and not have to worry about can I get two more tickets, can we get rides to the game, and coaches into me about making sure I just do my job.
"I'm looking forward to preparing for a normal test again and to know I've ticked off a little goal I set a while ago."
In reflecting on how far he has come, from the pint-sized teenager who emerged through Feilding High School, Smith looked over to Whitelock, another centurion whom he first met two decades ago at a Year 8 open day.
The pair went on to play in the first XV and New Zealand under-20s together. There they stood, two of the most respected figures in world rugby.
"We talk about it all the time ending up in the same group class for our whole high school years. It's pretty surreal. I always knew Sam was going to make it he was the schoolboy star.
"I've always loved watching Sam play. I was really proud when he made the All Blacks in 2010, and when he won the World Cup in 2011.
"The longer my career went I thought it would be pretty cool to try reconnect. Now we're the two old heads in the team - me, him and Colesy - they call us koro or grumpy.
"Sam is a real inspiration for me, a great leader. And in the last couple of years as a captain at the Highlanders I've really lent on Sam.
"To show the class of the man for their team to miss the [Super Rugby transtasman] final and him to ring me on the Sunday to give me tips, that shows the true worth of the guy and our friendship."
