Rugby: Last year a learning experience

Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith in Queenstown yesterday. Photo by Tracey Roxburgh.
Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith in Queenstown yesterday. Photo by Tracey Roxburgh.
Aaron Smith has learnt a lot in the past year.

The 25-year-old Highlanders halfback told about 120 people at a Wakatipu Rugby Club fundraiser in Queenstown yesterday his disappointing form during last year's Super 15 season stemmed from fear.

On the back of a successful Highlanders season in 2012, Smith debuted for the All Blacks against Ireland.

The game - which he described as ''a blur'' - whetted his appetite for international rugby.

''Coming off that All Black campaign ... I was so excited about the prospect of another year I didn't stop.

''I didn't have a break or relax. I got to the Highlanders [last season] and had all of these plans and it went to s ...

''I got scared. I was so scared of losing my [All Black] jersey I wasn't focused on the important thing: that game.

''I came in and tried to put too much on myself, put my standards higher than they needed to be. It was tough.''

Fellow All Black and Highlanders co-captain Ben Smith, who also attended the event, said the team had learnt valuable lessons from the 2013 season, which it would put into play in Queenstown tonight during a pre-season match against the Brumbies.

''Last year, we probably had a really good team on paper and through that we got a bit too much confidence,'' Ben Smith said.

''In a way, we started to read into that too much and maybe got a bit ahead of ourselves.

''This year is a bit different. We've got a group of guys really keen to work really hard.

''We've learnt a lot of things ... we can learn from that and move on.''

 

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