Conrad Gerard Smith (born 12 October 1981) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach and former player, who played predominantly at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He captained the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

, and played for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

from 2004 until 2015. He was a key member of New Zealand's

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Rugby World Cup winning teams. Following the 2015 World Cup he retired from international rugby and took up a contract with in France, before retiring in 2018. After retiring, he began a defence coaching role with Pau, and extended his contract as the club's High Performance Manager in 2020. He eventually returned to New Zealand in 2021, but still worked for Dublin-based International Rugby Players.

Early life

Smith played in various

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

age group teams. He attended St Joseph's Catholic School and

Francis Douglas Memorial College Francis Douglas Memorial College is an all-boys state integrated Catholic school with boarding facilities located in Westown, New Plymouth, New Zealand. The college was founded in 1959 under the leadership of the De La Salle Brothers, a relig ...

, both in

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

. Besides rugby he also excelled in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and was known as a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

; his current nickname "Snakey" originated from his fielding which his coach described as akin to a snake slithering. After completing secondary school he moved to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

where he completed an

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

(Hons) at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, residing at Weir House. Smith has been admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.

Domestic career

Smith spent most of his career with the

, and also for

in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

. He made his Wellington debut in 2003, and was signed by the Hurricanes in 2004. Smith's Hurricanes career was plagued by injury, and having been injured in 2006, 2007 and 2011, he made just 66 appearances in his first eight seasons with the side. He was Hurricanes captain until the end of the 2015 season, having led the side for the first time in 2007 in place of the injured

Rodney So'oialo Rodney So'oialo (born 3 October 1979 in Motoʻotua, Samoa) is a New Zealand rugby union player who recently played in Japan for the Honda Heat. He is now the director of rugby and head coach at Trinity College Kandy, Sri Lanka. Previously, he h ...

. In February 2015 he announced that the upcoming

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

would be his last as he would be joining Pau on a two-year contract. Smith made his debut for Pau on 19 December 2015 in the

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

Pool 2 match against Welsh side

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

International career

He made his

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

debut age 22, versus

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 2004, after a meteoric rise which saw him make his professional debut just a season earlier. In 2006, Smith won a place on the end of year tour to Europe, despite breaking his leg for the Hurricanes earlier that year. In 2007, Smith faced a number of setbacks, mostly involving injury. However, he eventually earned his way back into a starting position, and by 2008, was the first choice centre for the All Blacks. Smith was a member of the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

winning squad playing in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against France at Eden Park in Auckland on 23 October 2011. Against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 28 September 2013, Smith and inside centre Ma'a Nonu achieved a record fifty international games together. Smith took a six-month break from rugby during the 2013 end-of-year tour, meaning he did not travel with the All Blacks squad to Japan and Europe. In 2015, Smith was named New Zealand's

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

team for the second time. The All Blacks won this tournament and Smith played a crucial role throughout, starting in six out of six matches. He was one of six senior players – the others being

Keven Mealamu Keven Filipo Mealamu (born 20 March 1979) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer. He played at hooker for the Blues in Super Rugby, Auckland in the National Provincial Championship, and the New Zealand national team. He was a key mem ...

, all-time points scorer

Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...

, long-time midfield partner

Ma'a Nonu Ma'a Allan Nonu (; born 21 May 1982) is a professional rugby union player from New Zealand who currently plays for the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays in the inside centre, but can also cover outside centre and wing. H ...

, Tony Woodcock and captain

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...

– to retire after the tournament.

Other work

Off the field, Smith is involved in the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA) and sits on the board as a Player Representative. In 2015, he and McCaw were named as the New Zealand representatives in the 48-member Player Advisory Group by the International Rugby Players Association (IRPA).

Personal

Smith married Leanne Snowdon in October 2013. Smith missed a test match in Sydney for the birth of their first child, a boy, in August 2014.

Honours

Personal accolades

Member 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 ren ...

for services to rugby (

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

) *Steinlager Investec Super Rugby Player of the Year *Wellington Sportsperson of the Year *The Dominion Post Personality of the Year *Record Midfield Partnerships (along with Ma'a Nonu) *Kel Tremain Memorial Player of the Year (Nomination) *Air New Zealand NPC Division One Player of the Year (Nomination)

Hurricanes

*Hurricanes Captain *Super Rugby Centurion *Most Capped Hurricanes Player (along with Ma'a Nonu) *Conference Winner 2015

New Zealand

*Tri Nations/The Rugby Championship Champion 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 *British and Irish Lions Series Victory, 2005 1*Home Nations Grand Slam Tour, 2005, 22008 3and 2010 4*Rugby World Cup Winner 2011, 2015

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Conrad 1981 births Living people People educated at Francis Douglas Memorial College New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union centres Victoria University of Wellington alumni Rugby union players from Hāwera Hurricanes (rugby union) players Wellington rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit