Rugby: Conrad Smith confirms France move

Conrad Smith.
Conrad Smith.
Conrad Smith is the latest All Black to announce an overseas departure after the World Cup.

The 85-test veteran has signed a two-year deal with French club Pau, runaway Pro2 leaders and near certainties to be promoted to the Top 14 next season.

Smith will join teammates Dan Carter (Racing Metro) and Ma'a Nonu (Toulon) in France, leaving Richie McCaw, Tony Woodcock and Keven Mealamu as the only senior All Blacks yet to confirm their post-World Cup futures.

Smith had expressed little interest in an overseas stint before linking with Pau, but said he was intrigued by both the challenge on the field and the lifestyle outside the lines.

The club is bolstering its squad before its elevation to the top league in France.

The addition of Smith will certainly help, but Pau will face a battle to compete with some of the glamour sides in the Top 14.

Smith liked the look of that battle and had decided he would rather ply his trade at a smaller club than at a traditional powerhouse.

The centre is by far the biggest foreign recruit in Pau's 113-year history, although it does have on its books former New Zealand Maori lock Daniel Ramsay.

Pau won the last of their three French premiership titles in 1964, though they reached the semifinals of the Top 14 as recently as 2000.

Off the field, the south of France certainly has its charms. Smith was bitten by the travel bug during his sabbatical from rugby in 2013, during which his feelings about his rugby life after the All Blacks began to change.

The 33-year-old wants to learn a foreign language, and the city of fewer than 100,000 people at the northern edge of the Pyrenees seemed an attractive place to raise a young son.

Smith, a qualified lawyer, intends to eventually return to New Zealand to practise.

The second year of his contract could depend on a player option.

The departure of such an important figure from the All Blacks' previous decade of success will be felt but few will be panicking about Smith's move.

Even with Smith and Nonu set to officially end their All Black status, New Zealand still has considerable talent in the midfield ranks, and the Rugby Union always expected an exodus of its most experienced players after the World Cup in England this year.

 

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