The science experiment behind Wayne Smith's winning schedule
Wayne Smith earned the nickname “The Professor” over his years in the All Blacks environment for his astute understanding of the game, the extent of his attention to detail has been further revealed in a recent interview.
In a sit down with ex-All Black Jeff Wilson, Smith humbly accepted the award of ASB New Zealand Coach of the Year and discussed his approach with the Black Ferns, including a scientific understanding of how to schedule weeks during the World Cup to have his players in peak condition come game day.
While Smith initially joined the Black Ferns coaching staff in more of a mentorship role in early 2022, a review of the team exposed the leadership as unfit and before he knew it, The Professor had assumed the top job.
“I saw it as an adventure,” Smith said of the promotion. “Every coaching experience you have is different but it’s always an adventure, it’s never the same.
“You know I’ve been to a few world cups with the All Blacks obviously, they were high-pressure environments. I was really keen on this one to change that and make it fun.
“Some of it was embedded in some work we did with the All Blacks years ago around hormonal balance needed to be at your best for the game, we did a lot of spitting into vials and there was scientists doing the research but essentially what I found out was early in the week you need to have a lot of laughter, get rid of the cortisol and enhance your recovery, and at the end of the week that’s when you build the testosterone to be great on the weekend.
“So, we looked at a program where up until Tuesday night we had a lot of fun, had a lot of excitement, a lot of innovation. We had club nights on a Tuesday night, we had a club captain, we didn’t have a lot of resource so we went and bought a blazer for her down at the op shop, got some pins on it and she ran it like a club night and it sort of spilled over into our game, where everyone saw it as a bit of an adventure and exciting to play this game.
“We weren’t perfect at it, particularly early on but you could see the attacking intent and the courage to have a crack, even from our own goal line, if it was on, it was on and we just played and we backed our skills and so from that point of view, I would say it’s probably one of the best projects of my life, the most exciting anyway.”
Speculation about Smith’s coaching future continues to murmur. He’ll head to Japan in January to work with Kolbe’s coaching team briefly before he and Sir Graham Henry fly to Tonga to deliver rugby equipment donated by the Chiefs and Auckland Rugby, in the hope of lifting the morale following the volcanic eruption and tsunami.
A head coaching role is off the table in Smith’s mind but he is leaving the door open to an assistant role, saying a position similar to the one Sir Graham Henry filled for the Black Ferns at the World Cup could suit him nicely.
In the ten months that Smith led the Black Ferns team, the improvements were dramatic. While the coach admitted he wasn’t sure how the team would respond to his vision for how they were going to play, in the end, he realised he’d found the winning recipe.
“We became a professional team, it happened through the campaign, we became a high-quality, high-performance team, we started to look like one. So it was probably an evolution rather than a revolution, the revolution was the type of game we were going to play, the evolution was people buying into it and then producing a great output in their areas so that was really good to see.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t enjoy drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments