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Hurricanes snap up Wallabies prop

Australia prop Toby Smith on the charge against Fiji

Australia prop Toby Smith will leave Rebels to join Super Rugby champions Hurricanes on a two-year deal.

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Smith had four seasons with the Melbourne franchise after a successful spell with Chiefs, where he won two Super Rugby titles.

The 28-year-old, capped six times by the Wallabies, will now embark on a new challenge with the mighty Hurricanes.

“I’ll always be grateful for my time in Australia and I have really enjoyed playing for the Melbourne Rebels, but when the opportunity to play for the Hurricanes came up it was very appealing to me.” said Smith, whose parents are from New Zealand and brought him up in Hamilton.

“To play for a team with such a proud history and from everything I’ve heard a great culture, while also being closer to my young son is something I’m very excited about.

“I’m looking forward to moving to Wellington later in the year, meeting everyone, and getting stuck into pre-season training.”

Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd said: “Toby has a long and accomplished career that has already included nearly 100 Super Rugby caps, 50 matches for Waikato and a Rugby World Cup campaign with Australia.

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“That sort of experience is a valuable asset for any team and we’re looking forward to his input from next season.”

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Nickers 22 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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