George Smith dismisses link to England Rugby: ‘I am very much focused on Bristol Bears’ The 38-year-old Aussie flanker will turn out for the new side in the Gallagher Premiership

After a fortnight of headlines dominated by court cases and disciplinary goings-on it comes as a relief to encounter a shot of probity in George Smith of the Bristol Bears, one of the elder statesmen of the rugby union game.

“Morally I wouldn’t do it just because I have seen the inner sanctum of both camps,” the maestro Australian flanker says as he reveals why he is not interested in renewing a coaching link with England during their forthcoming November Tests that include a meeting with the Wallabies.

“I haven’t been in contact with Eddie [Jones, the England coach] about any plans to help with his team. It wouldn’t be right for me to do that because I’d be in the English camp and last year I was in the Wallabies’ camp. I would not put myself in that position.”

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Players putting themselves in dubious positions has been a recent theme, with England and Gloucester fly-half Danny Cipriani freed to play despite a court conviction on a pre-season tour to Jersey, and Chris Ashton given the third long ban of his career for a dangerous tip tackle.

Smith himself had an unsettling start to 2018. He spent two and a half weeks in police custody in Japan, where he was playing for the Suntory Sungoliath club, on suspicion of an assault, before he was released with no charge and no conviction. Smith is 38, Ashton, 31, and Cipriani, 30. Mishaps and misdemeanours are not confined to the young.

Now Smith is back in England, where he had a much-praised stint playing for Wasps, and also assisted Jones in coaching the national team in the art of the breakdown in 2016.

Smith has a six-month deal with newly-promoted Bristol up to the end of next January, as injury cover, and is enhancing a squad who won last season’s Championship by 20 points.

“I am very much focused on Bristol Bears,” says Smith, who won the first of his 111 Test caps almost 18 years ago. “I can’t hide the fact I’m 38 and I’m still assessing whether I can compete. Sorry, I know I can compete, and I wouldn’t have signed this contract if I didn’t, but I just want to see how it goes.

“The easiest thing would have been to go back to Japan or go back to Super Rugby, because that would have made me comfortable. This is making me uncomfortable, being in the Premiership, and if I’m not uncomfortable I’m not ready to go.”

A new era for Bristol

So while a link-up with his Aussie compatriot Jones (below) is possible when the Six Nations Championship comes round in February, Smith is focused on next Friday night, when a brilliantly raucous kick-off to the new season of the Gallagher Premiership appears guaranteed, with more than 21,000 tickets sold for Bristol’s opener at home to Bath at Ashton Gate.

Rebranded as the Bears with a mix of aggressive and lighthearted marketing, Bristol have splashed a reported £2million over two years on the leggy attacking threat of former All Black back Charles Piutau, thanks to the deep pockets of owner Steve Lansdown and the salary-cap exemption for two marquee players. Smith employs common sense again when he says: “We are not worried about how much people are making within the team.

“What we’re worried about is egos. If we have no egos within our group, that’s when you find everyone is working for each other.

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“I am not counting anyone else’s money. I totally understand you need to keep the best players in the world here in the Premiership, and Charles is definitely one of the best players in the world.

“If that is by those [financial] means then it best be that. Charles is very humble and good around the guys. We’ve got a lot of good personalities.”