New Zealand
Aaron Smith won't cut Richie McCaw's hair
November 14, 2013
New Zealand's Brodie Retallick during an All Blacks training session, Latymers Upper School, London, November 14, 2013
Brodie Retallick is unimpressed with his haircut, but says it was free "so you can't complain" © Getty Images
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Aaron Smith has made it clear where his scissors aren't going when he cuts the hair of his All Blacks team-mates. Smith, a trained hairdresser, is often in demand leading up to a Test, and he expects a busy couple of days ahead of Saturday's match against England at Twickenham, but "there's definitely a hit-list of people I don't do".

"There's just a straight 'No, I'm not cutting your hair'," he said, wary of getting it wrong for any player with 50 Tests or more under his belt. He has made a rule to send them elsewhere, saying the prospect of getting it wrong for a senior player will send his nerves into overdrive.

Smith was unequivocal when it was suggested that he might make an exception for 122-Test captain Richie McCaw.

"No way. I'd be like this the whole time," he said, quivering his hands. "I wouldn't even go near it, bugger that."

Smith says he has a passion for his role with the scissors, finding it calms him ahead of big games. "I know as a player, that if you look good and feel good you tend to play good as well."

He has already gone to work this week on team-mate Brodie Retallick, giving the lock a short-cropped appearance. But Retallick's review wasn't glowing. "I don't know if I was very happy with it to be fair," he said. "But it was a free haircut, so you can't complain."

© AAP

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