NEW ZEALAND legend Wayne Smith has revealed he has had surgery after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Smith underwent an operation last month after keeping quiet about his illness while he continued working as All Blacks assistant coach last autumn.
Now the 60-year-old believes the surgery was a success and is already targeting a new role working with Italy this year.
Smith said: “I was getting the blood tests about every six months. It was high PSA [prostate specific antigen] levels that initially alerted the doctor.
“High levels don’t automatically mean you’ve got cancer, but it is an alert, and it led to me getting a digital exam, and he then thought: ‘Hmm..there’s a hard spot there.’
“Could have been nothing, but he sent me to the urologist.”
Smith spoke to his wife, Trish, and together they decided to keep his diagnosis secret.
He added: “We had a wee chat. I said: ‘Look, it’s curable, so let’s take our time, get a few tests.’ I had a bit of footy to coach, so I was trying to juggle both things, and tried not to think about it too much really.
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“Through the Rugby Championship I knew I had it, but I didn’t really talk to anyone. The only one was the team doctor, Tony Page, and I didn’t even tell him.
“I just said I was struggling to sleep, and he gave me some great advice: ‘Just think about the past, not the future, then your mind won’t be too active.’
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“That was great, because sometimes I had been lying there at night thinking, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ But after talking to Tony I was able to handle it pretty well.
“The urologist wasn’t too worried because it was pretty slow moving. That was the line I took.”
Scans revealed the cancer was only restricted to his prostate, so he underwent a prostatectomy on December and the results have been good.
Smith said: “It easier than some of the rugby injuries I’ve had. I was out of the hospital after a day and a half, at home walking around and recovering really early.
“I’m going to help the Kobe Steelers club in Japan. They have a relationship with the Chiefs, and I’m going to have an involvement with the coaches at Kobe and get a bit of coaching in from time to time.
“I’ll also be doing two to three weeks with the Italian national team coaches over the year.
“I’ll attend a couple of camps to have a mentoring-type role with Conor O’Shea and Mike Catt. I have a real passion for Italy, its people and their rugby, so Trish and I are looking forward to getting back there now and again.”
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