WELLINGTON - Former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith is to rejoin the World champion side to bolster their bid to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cups.
All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith attends a press conference in Auckland on September 8, 2011
The re-appointment of 57-year-old Smith as a specialist coach was confirmed Monday with head coach Steve Hansen saying they needed his "vast knowledge" of the game.
"He is one of the most astute rugby coaches in world rugby and having worked with him in the past, we know just how valuable he is to any team he is involved in," Hansen said.
"Smithy's role will be purely around defence, but as we do with all our coaches we will tap into his vast knowledge of other areas of the game."
It will be Smith's fourth time with the All Blacks, which began in 1980 when the fly-half played the first of his 17 Tests.
He returned as head coach in 2000 and 2001, and rejoined as an assistant to Graham Henry in 2004 where he remained until the All Blacks won the World Cup in 2011.
He has since worked with the Waikato Chiefs, helping them secure Super rugby titles in 2012 and 2013.
He has previously coached the Canterbury Crusaders to consecutive Super titles in 1998 and 1999, alongside Hansen.
Between 2001 and 2004, Smith spent three seasons with English club Northampton.
In 2012, when England made a strong bid to secure Smith's services as an assistant to Stuart Lancaster, New Zealand rugby boss Steve Tew said he was too important an asset to lose.
Smith was considered "an incredibly important asset to New Zealand rugby, not just the All Blacks", Tew said then.