Wales prop Smith aims to make up for lost time
With more than 50 caps to his name, Nicky Smith is one of the elder statesmen in Wales' Six Nations squad.Only Taulupe Faletau, Tomos Williams and Elliot Dee have played more Tests than the loose-head prop of the players in Wales' starting side to face Scotland.Yet many rugby observers believe Smith's cap tally should be far higher after an 11-year international career.The 30-year-old looked genuinely surprised when a journalist informed him that Saturday will see him start back-to-back Wales games for the first time since the 2021 summer Tests."When I look back, when I started my Wales career I was in and out," said Smith."With every selection you always, as a sportsman, back yourself every time, even if you are playing well or aren't playing well."You always think you deserve to be there and I'm no different in that."Of course every time you aren't selected is tough but I got to the point where I said all I can do is crack on with the Ospreys or when I moved to Leicester."I try to pride myself on putting in my best performance each week."
Overcoming testing times
Smith made his Wales debut in 2014 and has experienced some frustrating times.He has played Test rugby every season since the 2014-15 season, but 30 of his Wales appearances have come off the bench and he has made just six starts in the last five campaigns, with only two during Warren Gatland's 26-Test, second reign as head coach.On three separate occasions, Smith has gone 400 days or more between Tests, and the Scotland game will be only the fifth time he has started two Tests in succession.He has been battling with the likes of Gareth Thomas, Rob Evans, Wyn Jones, Corey Domachowski and Rhys Carre for the number one jersey during that time. Smith's former Ospreys team-mate Thomas is the surviving rival from that cohort in the current Wales squad, alongside Scarlets loose-head Kemlsey Mathias.Smith had spent his entire career with Ospreys before joining Leicester Tigers last season and a string of good performances in the Premiership saw him recalled by Gatland for the 2024 autumn internationals."It's been nice to be in the squad and get a bit more game-time than I'm used to," said Smith."I'm just thankful and it's a huge honour to have the opportunity to wear the shirt."Wales' scrum was one of several positives from a much-improved performance against Ireland under interim head coach coach Matt Sherratt.Smith was part of a new-look front row, with Dee and WillGriff John, which won three early scrum penalties against the Irish."We will look to build on that," said Smith, looking ahead to the trip to Murrayfield."It was a good start - well I say start - against a tough Ireland team. "We are looking for the same again and getting dominance in that area."
Family affair
Smith will always remember a try-scoring display at Murrayfield five years ago for the celebration he forgot to do.A whirlwind 24 hours began with the birth of Smith's first child Albie, then he flew to Scotland, with his touchdown helping the Ospreys claim a 25-10 league victory over Edinburgh the following day."I scored, and I forgot to do the baby celebration," Smith said."My wife has reminded me of that every day! So I really messed that one up. It was a good day, apart from me missing my celebration."Murrayfield is up there among one of my favourite places to play. The atmosphere is awesome, you always get a good game against Scotland, so I am sure they are not going to disappoint this weekend."
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