A FORMER All Blacks coach has claimed the former Manchester United and Ireland captain Roy Keane convinced him not to take a coaching role with the English rugby team.
Wayne Smith has revealed how Roy Keane talked him out of taking the job.
Smith held the New Zealand post in 2000 and 2001 and then returned to help out as an assistant coach for the Kiwi's World Cup win in 2011 and 2015.
The links around England started to emerge and Keane gave Smith advice on taking the job.
Wayne Smith tells a story on how a talk by Roy Keane to the @AllBlacks made him question if he could coach another country pic.twitter.com/b0XJa3cCuZ
— Bernard Jackman (@bernardjackman) February 20, 2022
Smith was speaking to New Zealand publication Stuff about the meeting with Keane in 2008.
Keane was invited into the All Blacks training camp to provide some insight on leadership and this also was part of his UEFA pro license coaching course.
I’ll tell you a story that made a real difference to me. 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, said Smith
“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 United to Celtic. It seems like it was a bit of a finger to Fergie.
“He said as soon as he pulled the new jersey over his head he realized 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.”
Keane also gave advice to Ireland players Alan Quinlan, Ronan O’Gara, and Paul O’Connell in Wellington before a game between the All Blacks and Ireland in 2008.
He warned O' Gara to be prepared for what the All Blacks were about to produce
Speaking to the Times O' Gara gave an insight into the encounter
“To be honest Ronan, they mentioned you on Monday morning at nine o clock”, said Keane
“I fucking knew it! They’re fucking always going after me!”, claimed O' Gara
"It was brilliant. I went to the Test match on Saturday. The weather was atrocious. One of the worst games ever."
New Zealand went on to win the match on a 21-11 scoreline so it's not known whether Keane was lying or O' Gara wasn't listening.
When Roy Keane met ROG in a New Zealand restaurant, and discussed All Blacks tactics https://t.co/wojLwH3k0q pic.twitter.com/PbtzR32iPX
— Second Captains (@SecondCaptains) November 23, 2021
