HEN NEW Zealand scrum-half Aaron Smith listened to Rod Stewart sing about sailing through stormy waters it was easy to relate to.
Smith and a handful of other All Blacks spent their last night in the northern hemisphere watching Stewart at the O2 in London after a year of mixed fortunes.
Just three days previously, Ian Foster’s side let a 25-6 lead evaporate in the last ten minutes at Twickenham as England roared back into contention to snatch a draw with Beauden Barrett in the sin-bin. Foster blamed a lack of composure but it was the man who masterminded the comeback, Eddie Jones, who lost his job just 17 days later.
And while Stewart’s song Sailing spent four weeks at number one, New Zealand slipped to an all-time low of fifth in the world last August. They finished the year third but there is plenty to work on for the World Cup.
“We were pretty gutted. We played a pretty amazing 70 minutes and then let it go,” says Smith. “The big learning
