Smith’s jinx

Press, 9 May 1983, Page 21

Smith’s jinx

From JOHN BROOKS,

Bad luck just will not leave Wayne Smith alone. The Belfast five-eighths, whose rugby career has been interrupted several times by injury, received a further setback in the All Black trial at Athletic Park when he left the field after 28min with a back injury. He is reported to be suffering from a slipped disc, and he spent an agonising night on a makeshift bed on the floor of his Lower Hutt hotel unit. Team-mates from Andy Haden’s trial side constructed the bed to give Smith’s back some relief.

It was the second consecutive year that Smith*

had been forced to retire from the national trial match with back problems. Last year, muscle trouble affected him, but he recovered to play throughout the test series against the Wallabies and help Canterbury win and retain the Ranfurly Shield.

This year, unfortunately, the effects of the injury seems more serious. There was no physical contact involved. Smith said he twisted at the hips to throw a pass, and felt a numbness in the legs.

An All Black in 1980 and against last year, Smith has also had chunks taken out of his footballing career through a torn hamstring muscle and a broken jaw.