Sir Wayne Ross Smith (born 19 April 1957) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

coach and former player. He has won three Rugby World Cups; he was an assistant coach with New Zealand's men's team, the All Blacks, who won the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

World Cups, and as head coach of the New Zealand women's team, the

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns (), represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tour ...

, won the 2021 World Cup, held in 2022. He was previously the head coach of New Zealand's men's team, the All Blacks (2000–2001), and assistant coach for two spells (2004–11 and 2015–2017). He is one of seven coaches to win back-to-back World Cups. He also coached the Crusaders to win the 1998 and 1999 Super Rugby title, and the Chiefs to win the 2012 and 2013 Super Rugby titles. As a player, Smith won 17 international caps for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

between 1980 and 1985. He also toured with the

New Zealand Cavaliers The Cavaliers was an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986. Because of the Apartheid policies of the South African government, the official New Zealand Rugby Union tour scheduled for 1985 was cancelled, and t ...

in 1986, playing in one of the test matches against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Playing

Growing up in

Putāruru Putāruru is a small town in the South Waikato District and the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It lies on the western side of the Mamaku Ranges and in the upper basin of the Waihou River. It is on the Oraka Stream 65 kilometres s ...

, Smith played for Waikato Secondary Schools in 1974, then worked his way up to the province's colt and B teams. He studied at

Waikato University The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in numerous disciplines such as education, socia ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

while playing club rugby in Putaruru, and in 1978 he was on the bench for one top grade Waikato match. "Frustrated" after that season, he decided to look for opportunities elsewhere, and moved to Canterbury where Belfast became his second (and final) club. Smith played for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

under the leadership of Doug Bruce and

Alex Wyllie Alexander John "Grizz" Wyllie (30 August 1944 – 22 March 2025) was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach. Playing career Wyllie began his rugby career playing for Glenmark Rugby Club, in North Canterbury. During his first-class career ...

, and made his international debut in 1980. He played first five-eighth, winning 17 Test caps. In the Rugby Almanack of New Zealand, he was selected as one of the "Five players of the year" for the 1984 season.

Coaching

Smith had two spells coaching in Italy, with ASD Rugby Casale (as player-coach, 1986–88) and Benetton Treviso (1992–94). His first major coaching role in New Zealand was for the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

in the

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

competition in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. He coached them to two titles in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

before being appointed All Blacks coach after the 1999

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

. With the All Blacks in 2001, Smith was bitterly disappointed after two close losses to Australia, failing to win the Bledisloe Cup from them and finishing second to Australia twice in the 2000 and 2001 Tri Nations. He decided to reapply for his job but John Mitchell was chosen instead. Smith went on to coach the

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

in England. He coached there until being appointed backs coach in early 2004 by then All Blacks' coach

Graham Henry Sir Graham William Henry (born 8 June 1946) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, and former head coach of the country's national team, the All Blacks. Nicknamed 'Ted', he led New Zealand to win the 2011 World Cup. Henry played rugby union for ...

. In 2010, All Black scrum half

Justin Marshall Justin Warren Marshall (born 5 August 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005. Marshall played for the in the Super Rugby, Super 12 from 1996 to 2005, winning ...

spoke about the best piece of coaching advice he'd received came from Smith: "I was going through a bad patch and he told me to go out and trust my instincts and be decisive – you need to trust what you do is going to be the right thing and if you do it decisively you'll make good of it even if it's the wrong option because you'll do it with purpose. That's the best piece of advice I've been given." Smith took up the assistant coaching position at the New Zealand Super Rugby team the Chiefs in 2012. That year the Chiefs won their first Super Rugby title by defeating the Sharks 37–6 in the final. In August 2012 Smith declared he wanted to stay with the Chiefs, despite being approached by the Western Force and NSW Waratahs, and an offer from England. Smith rejoined the All Blacks' coaching staff in 2015, ahead of the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

, which New Zealand won. On 19 May 2017 Smith announced he would be stepping down as assistant coach at the conclusion of the 2017 Rugby Championship in October, after over 200 games as a coach of the All Blacks since 2004, and retiring from full-time coaching. During his time coaching the All Blacks his record is 212 games, 184 wins, 21 losses and 7 draws. Smith's final game with the All Blacks came on 21 October against Australia in Brisbane where the All Blacks lost 23–18. In 2018 Smith moved to Japan and became Director of Rugby at Kobelco Kobe Steelers. During his tenure he has helped the team to win two back to back Top League Japanese championships, with a record of 24 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss out of 27 games. On 21 April 2022,

New Zealand Rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it b ...

confirmed that Smith had been selected as the

' new Head Coach. He coached the team to 12 wins from 12 matches and winning the 2022 Women's Rugby World Cup in the process.

Honours

In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, Smith was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to rugby. At the 2022 World Rugby Awards he won

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

. In the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours, Smith was promoted to

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

, for services to rugby and his charity work helping children with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

. He received the inaugural Legacy Award at the 2024 New Zealander of the Year Awards, recognising his lifetime contribution.

References

External links

*
Wayne Smith Daylife Publishers
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Wayne 1957 births University of Waikato alumni New Zealand international rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Living people New Zealand national rugby union team coaches Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Putāruru New Zealand women's national rugby union team coaches Rugby union players from Waikato People educated at Putāruru College Rugby football people awarded knighthoods Rugby union fly-halves