Aaron Smith has been a key fixture for the Highlanders since making his debut in 2011. Photo / Photosport
Christopher Reive
Aaron Smith has always wanted to leave on his own terms.
For more than a decade, the lively halfback has been a fixture in the Highlanders’ Super Rugby squad, bringing up his 184th appearance for the club in their 35-30 win over the Reds in Dunedin on Friday night.
The 34-year-old has been involved in plenty of incarnations of the Highlanders squad, with the side through peaks and troughs, and playing a leading role in the championship-winning campaign in 2015. Only long-serving Crusaders prop Wyatt Crockett made more appearances in the competition; his 203 for the Crusaders from 2006-18 will be a tough mark to match.
But for Smith, Friday night’s win over the Reds was emotional. Regardless of what happens in next weekend’s final round of the regular season, Smith has played his last game at Forsyth Barr Stadium in a Highlanders jersey. All going well it won’t be the final time he plays in Dunedin, though, with the All Blacks scheduled to host the Wallabies there in August.
In summing up what the moment meant to him, Smith told Sky Sport how much he had enjoyed those 80 minutes every week in which he got to express himself on the paddock.
“I’ve got a huge passion for the game and this is the best bit – the two hours on Friday or Saturday night where you get to express yourself. I put a lot of work into my game and my preparation, and this is where I can just let it go,” Smith said.
“I love nothing more than this. I always hate when the game ends, I always hate when I get subbed, and I’ve always wanted to leave on my own terms – still performing. I didn’t want to have that feeling of when you get shuffled out. I feel like this year’s the right time for me. Who knows what the future holds? All I wanted was that win, and we got it.”
Needing other results to go their way if they are to secure a playoff spot, Smith’s frantic fairytale send-off – sealed by a last-minute try through his heir apparent Folau Fakatava to snatch the win – was capped off by the Melbourne Rebels doing a number on the Western Force, winning 52-14 to boost the Highlanders’ hopes.
That result sees the Highlanders holding eighth spot on the ladder by one point from the Force and two ahead of the Rebels and the Fijian Drua, who clung on to beat Moana Pasifika 47-46 after Christian Lealiifano missed what would have been a match-winning conversion after the hooter.
A win over the Blues next weekend could see the Highlanders finish as high as seventh, but they are in a five-way scrap for the seventh and eighth seeds, with the Reds (24 points), Highlanders (23), Force (22), Drua (21) and Rebels (21) all in the hunt for the last two spots.
The Drua host the Reds in their final game of the season, the Force host the Chiefs, and the Rebels visit the Brumbies.
While the Highlanders came away with the win over the Reds to essentially keep their season alive, it wasn’t a pretty performance. They got off to a horrible start, and although their defence had some impressive stands, some weak defensive efforts led to Reds tries in the first half.
With playoffs in touching distance, Smith said he would love to have another two games as a Highlander if possible, but knew any more than that was a tall order.
“We’ve got to be realistic about where we’re at as a team. There were some pretty soft tries, we’re still not executing that well and we’re still having brain farts so we’ve got a lot of things we need to clean up,” he said.
“That’s by no means a dominating performance, but we won and that’s the thing. You don’t turn up Monday like ‘oh we did so well but we lost.’ We turn up, we didn’t play very well but we won. We just have to take that for what it is – and there’s nothing like going up to Eden Park. I’m already excited about it and I’m pretty happy this week’s nearly over. It’s been pretty big, so I’ll sleep well.”