Yesterday marked a crucial step towards Toby Smith’s goal of making it on to the international rugby stage.
Looking at his career so far, it’s not surprising that he was named as one of eight front rowers in the Wallabies’ 40-man extended squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship.
The squad has been identified as a good mix of youth, form and experience; a combination Toby holds on his own.
He’s 26 years old, has proven an impeccable feature of the Rebels’ forward pack in one of their best seasons to date and has unrivalled experience in New Zealand rugby as part of the Chiefs squad during their back-to-back Super Rugby Championships winning years. It’s a potentially lethal combination and one Cheika is obviously keen to utilise.
His parents are both Kiwis but moved to Australia for a couple of years in the 1980s, during which time Toby was born in Kirwan, a suburb of Townsville in north Queensland. Fortunately for Australia this is what makes him eligible for a gig in international Gold.
Raised in New Zealand, Toby attended Hamilton Boys High School, representing the country in the Under 20s, with All Blacks Aaron Smith and Ryan Crotty, during their 2008 Junior World Championships victory in Wales.
Honing his development through the Academy in Waikato and playing for the side in the ITM Cup, Toby soon found his way into the Chiefs’ wider training squad.
His Super Rugby debut came in 2010, where he made six appearances for the Chiefs in his opening season, followed by a further 12 the following year in 2011.
Regardless of whether he was named in the run-on side or chosen to bolster it from the bench, Toby proved his willing ways, scoring one try per year in his first three years in Super Rugby, not bad for a prop. He was part of the Chiefs outfit within a time of building and brilliance, earning eight caps during the side’s inaugural Super Rugby title win in 2012 and another 11 in their second the following year.
In 2013, doing as his parents had done before him, Toby also made the decision to move across the ditch to Australia, motivated both by the prospects of increasing his game time and making it to the next level of rugby.
Taking advantage of his chance to perhaps make it to the Wallaby Gold, Toby was attracted to the Melbourne Rebels’ competitive spirit and that familiar mix of youth and experience. However, upon his arrival at his new Club, he was simply keen to get into their 22 and apply his Super Rugby winning savvy to complement the Melbourne-based side’s efforts. It was a big change for the then 25 year old who had to adapt to rugby training in the stifling Australian summer heat during pre-season, as well as the increase in traffic.
Forever stoic in his approach, Toby has played a key part in the young squad’s impressive rise in Super Rugby across the last few years, commended in April this year with a renewed contract that will see him stay with the side until the end of 2017.
Two seasons, 28 games and yet another five-pointer later as a Rebel, Toby now has every right to believe the opportunity to make it to the top in rugby is well within his grasp.
