Now they've crossed paths again - only this time Yanuyanutawa isn't packing down in the front-row and Smith isn't turning defenders inside out. This time they're on the sideline.

Smith was in Canberra last week, touring with a group of students from Sydney Grammar where he holds the post of assistant director of rugby. It's fitting one junior team came up against Canberra Grammar, where Yanuyanutawa is the head of rugby.

As Smith puts it, the pair have "come full circle". Only this time it's about giving back to the game.

"That's probably one of the beauties of the roles we both have. You can connect with people like T," Yanuyanutawa said.

MORE RUGBY UNION

"It's obviously quite important for the general health of the game, but from a community perspective as well. Rugby plays a big role in communities, you can see it at Canberra Grammar where rugby is quite strong and it brings everyone together. Seeing that, seeing the smiles on faces, and just giving back, I think it's quite important.

"A lot of these kids might not play the game when they leave school, but the values of the game like togetherness and teamwork is so strong and that's what myself and T connect with and why we do what we do in schools rugby."

This is the path Yanuyanutawa always wanted to take. It's why he got a teaching degree. Smith admits he "sort of fell into" coaching, but you get the sense there's nowhere he'd rather be.

"Playing rugby is a lot of what I've loved doing. It's been my passion. Being able to pass that onto our students from Sydney Grammar School has been great," Smith said.

"I've got two young boys, and I started by coaching them. I thought 'look, I've got quite a lot of knowledge after playing 14 years of professional rugby league and rugby union', I've got a lot of knowledge I've got stored.

"If I could do this as a job, I always thought 'what an awesome job to have'. Getting the opportunity about four and a half years ago to coach at Sydney Grammar has been quite a privilege for me, and I've loved everything in terms of working at the school.

"They're a great school and they've provided me with a job where I'm able to apply what I do and what I love, and my passion of rugby, to give that knowledge to the boys."

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