Black Ferns: Charmaine Smith reflects on remarkable return to international rugby after medically-enforced retirement

Charmaine Smith thought her days of playing rugby at an international level were behind her.

In 2020, Smith brought her Black Ferns career to a premature end as she was forced to retire on medical grounds at 29. Just before the country went into lockdown that year, Smith found out there was an issue with her neck.

It was an injury that was picked up by chance; a doctor found an issue when Smith went in for a scan of her lower back. Smith felt no symptoms to indicate there were any problems with her neck, but it was a situation that put her at risk of a serious spinal injury if she continued to play rugby.

At that point, that was that. A promising career ended abruptly, and an athlete shuffled on to the next phase of their life.

But the love of rugby never faded, and two years after being forced to end her career, Smith was cleared to return to action following the birth of her daughter, Amīria.

Reflecting on that moment, she said it didn’t take long before she made her mind up as to whether or not she would return to the sport.

“The moment the doctor said I was cleared to play, I was always going to play again,” Smith said.

“The road back has been a really long one. It’s been a lot of hard work, and not just my hard work but hard work of my whānau and friends who have all helped me get to this point.”

Smith, who works as a frontline police officer in Whangārei, made her way back up through the levels, playing for Northland in the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) before joining the Blues for the inaugural season of Super Rugby Aupiki, then moving south to play for the Chiefs Manawa in the 2023 Aupiki season.

Her performances in Northland’s Championship-winning campaign in this year’s FPC saw her recalled to the New Zealand squad for their scheduled end of year tour, and last week she played her first test since 2019 in the Black Ferns’ 43-3 win over the Wallaroos in Hamilton.

She says it was a position she never expected to get back to.

“For me, I was out of it. When I got cleared to play again, I just wanted to work hard, be the best I could and see where I ended up.”

Smith was impressive in her return to the international stage, though she admitted the game was much faster now than when she last featured for the national side. The 32-year-old put in a strong 80-minute shift in a performance that saw the Black Ferns forwards dominate their opposition, while she also copped a shot to the head when reserve Wallaroos prop Bridie O’Gorman collected her with an attempted face-to-face tackle with about 10 minutes to go. O’Gorman was subsequently sent off.

When asked how she bounced back from the collision after the game, Smith responded: “My daughter hits me harder with toys on my head than that.”

Amīria was on hand to celebrate with the team as they retained the Laurie O’Reilly Cup, and Smith said she hoped her daughter would come to realise how important a role she has played in the journey.

“She’s a big reason for my drive. Being a mum, you have this new type of resilience. It’s hard work, but I feel like it also gives you the motivation. I feel like I can go out and be great, and hopefully one day I’ll inspire her to go out and chase her dreams to work hard and never give up,” Smith said.

“She’s 2 next week. She probably doesn’t realise what a big part of this she is. I hope one day she can look back on these moments and realise what a big moment she was a part of.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.