Conrad's back in the saddle! - I WON'T LET THE KIDS DOWN

Off the field, the rugby legend is making a new name for himself as a charity king, helping improve children's lives

- Wendyl Nissen

He had a stellar career that saw him on the winning team of two Rugby World Cups, but now Conrad Smith is switching codes and is set to embark on his next big challenge. And this time, he’s not doing it for a shiny gold trophy – but to save lives.

The former All Black is competing in the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge, which is a surprise even to him, because he is supposed to be living overseas, but instead he and his family have returned to New Zealand.

Due to the pandemic, Conrad, 40, and his wife Lee-Anne Snowdon, 36, moved their family back home to New Plymouth earlier this year after five years in the mountainous province of Béarn in the South of France.

The Taranaki-raised dad-of-two never expected to be back in Aotearoa, let alone donning Lycra and cycling a hundred kilometres a week to train for the race, but both were for a good reason.

He will be riding the 160km challenge – which is planned for November 27, but if it can’t go ahead on that date due to Covid restrictions, there is a reserve date of February 19 – to support the charity So They Can, which was set up to ensure children receive a quality education, nutritious meals and medical care in East Africa.

After first becoming an ambassador for the charity 12 years ago, both Conrad and Lee-Anne are devoted to So They Can, which supports 42 schools in the region.

The organisation not only ensures children get educated, but also works to help vulnerable children, to empower women to create businesses and to make sure children in school are healthy.

Conrad first met the charity’s founder, Wanakabased former lawyer and mother-of-four Cassandra Treadwell, in 2010, when she was just working out how to help children and women in Kenya get access to education.