Aaron Smith admits his final home game for the Highlanders in Dunedin will come with a tinge of sadness.
After 12 years at the Highlanders — where he was integral to their maiden Super Rugby title in 2015 and would go on to become the most capped player in franchisehistory — Smith will say goodbye to Forsyth Barr Stadium when the Highlanders host the Reds on Friday, with the 34-year-old halfback leaving for Japan at the end of this year.
Thousands are expected to farewell Smith as the ninth-placed Highlanders face a do-or-die clash to make the top eight, with the Force only three points ahead in eighth and the Reds another point above in seventh.
“It’s sad but it’s exciting as well with the opportunity we have as a team,” Smith said. “I owe this place a lot. I owe Dunedin a lot. I owe the Highlanders a lot. I’ve got a lot of special moments on this field.
“I would just love nothing more than just a win this weekend, to be honest.”
Unfortunately, one person who will be missing the game will be Smith’s father, Wayne, who died after a long illness last month.
Smith said it “sucks” not having his dad, a massive supporter of his career, at what promises to be a special occasion on Friday, regardless of the result.
“It was definitely a game day he planned to come to,” Smith said. “He was very crook most of the end of last year and he sort of came right. He hadn’t come to any of the games early in the year because he was trying to sort of get healthy enough to come to this game or be down here for a couple.
“It sucks to be honest. Every time I play rugby now it’s a definite thought of my dad. The conversations we’d have, I’d always ring them on the way to the game on the car ride in and he would give me the goofy laugh and the awkward jokes and just what my dad would do. He’d always just tell me, ‘you got this son’.
“So the last month has been really interesting playing rugby without that stuff. I’ll be thinking of my dad on Friday night for sure and just trying to do him proud. He’s here and he’s with me always. He used to love coming to watch games there.”
Aaron Smith in action. Photo / Photosport
The Highlanders kept their playoff hopes alive last week thanks to a dramatic victory over the Rebels, ahead of their final two games against the Reds and the Blues.
Smith says it’s been a tough year for himself and the team, but he’s determined to put everything — like he has for his entire Highlanders career — into this week.
“With the year I’ve had with my father passing and missing games and then also All Black rests, it’s been a topsy-turvy year for me on and off the field. Still trying to find some form, some consistency in my own performance and probably as a team. But we’ve still got a couple of games left and post that Blues game, we’ll know what our fate is, whether it’s done or we live to fight one more day.
“We’ve put ourselves in this position this year, but there’s still a mathematical chance and a chance for us and the fate’s in our own hands as well, which is exciting. As a player you play for games like that. It’s sort of like a final for us, which is awesome.
“As a competitor and as an athlete, that’s what you want. You want to just be in big games and you don’t get much bigger than this weekend at Forsyth Barr and hopefully a few people come out and support and get right behind us and cheer us home.”
