Rugby: Chiefs confident Smith will serve two-year term

Wayne Smith. Photo / Richard Robinson

The Chiefs remain confident that new assistant coach Wayne Smith will serve out his two-year contract with the franchise despite him revealing his intentions to work in England in the near future.

Smith is contracted from January 2012 but has told media in England that he is keen for a move back to the country and even indicated a willingness to replace Martin Johnson as coach of the national team alongside South African Nick Mallett.

Chiefs' chief executive Gary Dawson said today that while he had not talked to Smith recently, he was sure the former All Blacks' assistant coach would fulfil the terms of his contract.

When asked if he was surprised by Smith's comments, Dawson replied: "Nothing really surprises me.''

But he added: "Wayne is committed to us for two years. I would be surprised if he left to coach another team in that time.''

Smith, a former coach of the Northampton club, told media: "I've got a two-year contract but there's an out-clause for both of us. I didn't want to walk out of the All Blacks with the game plan under my arm and go to a competing nation immediately. Given a bit of time to get that out of my system, I'd be really interested in coming back to the UK. Coming back is always something I've wanted to do. You want to coach the best. I'd struggle to coach a team that's losing because that's the way I am.''

When asked about an exit clause for Smith and the franchise, Dawson said he was not prepared to discuss contract details.

Smith has teamed up with Mallett to coach a Southern Hemisphere XV for a charity match at Twickenham this weekend and could form a longer-term partnership with him in the future.

England are likely to go with caretaker-coaches for the Six Nations' championship which starts in February. RFU head of elite player development Stuart Lancaster and Graham Rowntree, England's scrum coach, are the names being mentioned in London.

Former All Blacks assistant coach Smith and the English-born Mallett, who has coached the Springboks and Italy, would be a formidable combination to take over from the pair.

Mallett's comments to the media indicated he and Smith have given it some thought. "Wayne and I both believe in our abilities as coaches and believe we can get the best out of the teams we coach,'' Mallett said. "Without saying anything detrimental [about the previous England regime], there's a lot of progress that can be made.''

It is understood that Smith was one of the reasons why high-profile All Black Sonny Bill Williams decided to join the Chiefs in 2012.