All Blacks coaching legend Wayne Smith says an after dinner talk from Roy Keane turned him off taking up a role with England.
Smith, who won 17 caps for New Zealand, served as All Blacks head coach, and assistant coach. He's credited as being a major factor in the 2011 and 2015 World Cup wins.
In June 2008, Keane - who was Sunderland manager at the time - spent a week in the All Blacks camp ahead of a test match against Ireland. The visit was part of his UEFA pro licence coaching course.
'Roy Keane came into the All Blacks environment for about a week'
At the time, Smith was assistant under Graham Henry. Four years later, when he was offered a role in the England backroom team, his thoughts turned to the words of Keane.
"I’ll tell you a story that made a real difference to me," Smith said in an interview with Stuff.co.nz.
"Roy Keane came into the All Black environment for about a week in the build-up to a test match down in Wellington. He was an intriguing guy. We asked him if he would get up and talk to the boys at dinner.
"So he stood up and he said something really interesting. He talked about going from Man U to Celtic. It seems like it was a bit of a fingers to Fergie.
"He said as soon as he pulled the new jersey over his head he realised it was the wrong jersey. It made a real impression on me. I kept thinking about that.
"If I pulled the white jersey over my head would it be the right fit for me. And I decided at that point that I probably wouldn’t coach against the All Blacks.
"It’s not set in concrete. But that’s how I felt. It would have been the wrong jersey to pull over the head."
3 June 2008; All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith talks with Ireland's Peter Stringer during an Ireland squad New Zealand Parliamentary function. 2008 Ireland Rugby Summer Tour, Parliament, Wellington, New Zealand. Picture credit: Tim Hales / SPORTSFILE
In an interview with the Sunday Times last year, Keane revealed that he ran into Paul O’Connell, Alan Quinlan and Ronan O’Gara during the build-up to the match between Ireland and the All Blacks.
O'Gara attempted to extract some information from Keane about his upcoming opponents.
"Have they mentioned me?" O'Gara said.
Keane replied: "To be honest Ronan, they mentioned you on Monday morning at nine o clock."
"I fucking knew it!" said O'Gara.
"They’re fucking always going after me!"
New Zealand won the game 21-11.
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