'Leicester is quite an unusual club - in a good way': Nicky Smith

Nicky Smith is backing Steve Tandy to lead Wales out of the doldrums and into a brighter new era.

The Leicester prop was part of the Wales side that finally snapped an 18-match losing streak against Japan in July.

And he believes Wales are well placed to kick on from Kobe with their new head coach on board in the autumn.

“I had him as a coach at Ospreys when he was only starting off coaching and you could see then the potential. He was only going to grow greater and greater in the coaching world,” said Smith.

“Since Ospreys, he’s been everywhere. He’s done the Waratahs in Australia, Scotland, British Lions – I mean the CV speaks for itself.

“I’ve spoken to the Scottish boys here at Leicester about Steve and asked them what he was like coaching them and they said he was a breath of fresh air and really positive.

“I’m sure that he’s going to bring some quality in there, and I really do think it’s a really positive and good time for Wales, where we can start getting wins back to back and pushing ourselves up in the world rankings.”

Wales currently lie 12th, one place above Japan who they meet again in Cardiff next month in a testing schedule which also includes Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa.

“We know they are tough games, starting with Argentina, but if you look at our squad, there is absolute quality in pretty much every area,” said Smith.

That may be wishful thinking but with Louis Rees-Zammit back to add some stardust on the wing and Saracens prop Rhys Carre adding more competition for Smith’s jersey, it does feel like some flesh is starting to be put on Wales’s exposed bones, a point illustrated by the exclusion of Smith’s Tigers’ teammate Tommy Reffell.

“To be honest, I was surprised with Tommy – and Olly Cracknell,” said Smith. “I’m going to be biased as a Leicester man but I think both of them have been on fire. I am gutted for those boys but they are quality players and I’ve no doubt that they will be in the Welsh set-up sooner rather than later.”

Smith’s description of himself is a reflection of how well he has settled in the East Midlands. This is his second season with Leicester and the 31-year-old feels part of the furniture.

“It does feel like home and I’m really enjoying being a Tiger,” he said. “When I came here last year I’d been out of the Wales squad for the past year and I was thinking that door was closed so I was fully concentrating on Leicester. I wanted to try to win things and I wanted to try to play as big a part as I can. Since day one of that pre-season I haven’t really looked back.”

It helps that as a prop forward he has been embraced as part of a proud Welford Road tradition.

“I think Leicester is quite an unusual club – in a good way – in that they do take a lot of pride in the scrum,” said Smith.

“You feel it from the crowd. The first scrum against Bath on Saturday we won a penalty and the roar was unbelievable.

“Maybe you’d get that in South Africa but I’m not sure you’d get that in many parts of the world – fans on their feet cheering for a scrum penalty.”

Smith played the full 80 minutes against the champions – a rarity for any prop these days – but a testament to his value to the side.

His contract is up at the end of the season and it seems logical that, with Smith happy at Leicester and Leicester happy with Smith, he will extend it – although he is keeping his options open.

“It’s early days yet. It’s no secret that I really enjoy it at Leicester so of course that will always be an option to look into. But I’m at the age, and with a young family, that I have to look at all options. It would be native to just settle for one thing,” he said.

“So, of course, I’ll look at all options, but hopefully, we’ll get that sorted soon.”