All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith. Photo / Brett Phibbs.
Wayne Smith has opened up about his remarkable career as a player and coach, ahead of his last home game with the All Blacks.
Smith, arguably the sharpest mind in rugby, has announced that he will step down from New Zealand's coaching team at the conclusion of this year's Rugby
Championship in September.
Nicknamed "The Professor", Smith has a 20-year association with the All Blacks as a player and then in three spells as a coach.
Smith said he wasn't 'brought up to do anything extra-ordinary', but surpassed all expectations due to his super competitive instinct.
"You can't talk about my story without talking about the bad-times," Smith told Newstalk ZB's Tony Veitch. "I wouldn't be anywhere near the coach I am today, if I didn't experience the lows of 2001 and 2007."
