Smith’s arrival in All Blacks camp this week was planned – rather than sparked by performance frustrations after failing to score a point in the final quarter of their last five tests.
As the All Blacks prepare for the rematch with the Wallabies in Wellington, though, following their 31-28 escape in Sydney last week, Smith’s fresh set of eyes is sure to provide nuggets of gold for a team that, eight tests into this year, are battling to grasp consistency.
“It’s been awesome. He came in late last night as a bit of a fly on the wall,” All Blacks assistant coach Jason Holland said.
“I’m picking his brain, everybody is picking his brain, around the little things he’s seeing. He’s claiming he doesn’t watch too much footy anymore living over in the Gold Coast but with the little bits he’s giving you, he’s all over it.”
Will Jordan, after his best performance of the season from his favoured fullback position against the Wallabies, is among those eager to soak up Smith’s knowledge.
“I haven’t had too much to do with Wayne in the past but he’s got a great record that speaks for itself,” Jordan said. “Everyone you talk to in this game has a huge amount of respect for him and what he’s done. I shook his hand and said gidday this morning.
“It will be nice to pick his brain. He’s a great man to have working behind the scenes with the coaches and players. No doubt he’ll have a big influence on us.”
While they anxiously locked away the Bledisloe Cup, there’s no shortage of motivation for the All Blacks to summon their best performance in their final home test of the year.
This weekend will be former captain Sam Cane, ahead of his potential 100th test milestone, and TJ Perenara’s last home outings for the All Blacks. Aside from the need to improve their ongoing final-quarter collapses, Holland expects the desire to honour those veterans to ensure the All Blacks are emotionally charged.
Perenara and Cane are available for the northern tour before departing to Japan at the end of the year – but whether they are selected remains to be seen.
“They’re both huge parts of New Zealand rugby,” Holland said. “I’m not sure it’s their last games but whichever way it goes, we want to show them massive respect. I’m not sure they’ll be willing to say it’s nearly over yet.”
After losing in Wellington last month to the Pumas – to extend their perplexing winless stretch in the capital to five tests since 2018 – Jordan acknowledged the All Blacks have formally addressed the desire to end the hoodoo.
“It’s something we haven’t addressed too much in the past but with how it’s gone, we’ve had a bit of a discussion about it this morning,” he said.
“From a players’ point of view, it’s humbling to see the sellout this weekend for our last home game in New Zealand this year. We’re excited about going out there and hopefully put a performance on that the ground and this region deserves. It’s hugely motivating for us to get a win this week.”
Holland, the former Hurricanes head coach, did not shy away from the All Blacks’ unwanted record in the capital, either.
“We’re really aware of that and we’ve got plans in place to take it as an awesome opportunity to put out a good performance,” he said. “We hear it’s a packed stadium so we’re pretty driven to play the footy we want to play and take the opportunity.”
With Jordie Barrett sidelined by his medial ligament setback – he’s awaiting scan results to determine the severity of the injury – the All Blacks sprung a surprise by calling in Canterbury fullback Chay Fihaki as injury cover, over the likes of Emoni Narawa and in-form North Harbour counterpart, Shaun Stevenson.
Hurricanes halfback Cam Roigard has also joined the squad for the first time this year as his comeback from a torn patella gathers momentum, with his official return scheduled for next week with Counties Manukau.
