Aaron Smith has been lauded as the man who allowed the All Blacks to play at such breakneck speed as the halfback prepares to overtake Justin Marshall as the most capped All Blacks No.9 ever.
Smith was today named at halfback in an All Blacks’ team to face Ireland - a roster featuring only one change from the team's win over England. Ryan Crotty will replace the injured Sonny Bill Williams while Anton Lienert-Brown comes onto the bench.
The halfback will play his 82nd Test this week against Ireland after debuting against the same opposition in 2012, when the All Blacks had decided as a group to play the game at high speed.
“Aaron has done a marvellous job speeding up the delivery of our ball, allowing us to play at a speed that has been uncomfortable for other teams at times.”
Smith had first caught the eye playing for NZ Maori against England in Napier in 2010.
"While he was 100 miles an hour, he needed a bit of refining obviously," Hansen recalled today. "You could see the potential was there.
“That game, I think it was in Napier, he played particularly well that night and that’s when I started to get a little bit excited about thinking this kid could be okay.”
Hansen said that while Smith was not as physical as his predecessors in the All Blacks No/9 jersey like Justin Marshall and Piri Weepu, he had rarely let the side down in defence.
“There’s the old saying, it’s not the size of the dog it’s the size of the fight in the dog,” he said.
“As I said, right at the beginning he’s a very passionate man, having a sense of belonging and committed to your group, then he’ll die for it.
“He's certainly not your most physical halfback, but he doesn’t get hurt too often and he doesn’t miss too many tackles either, you can probably count on one hand how many he’s missed that have hurt us.”
All Blacks: Karl Tu’inukuafe (11), Codie Taylor (40), Owen Franks (105), Brodie Retallick (73), Samuel Whitelock (107), Liam Squire (22), Ardie Savea (33), Kieran Read – captain (116), Aaron Smith (81), Beauden Barrett (71), Rieko Ioane (22), Ryan Crotty (43), Jack Goodhue (6), Ben Smith (75), Damian McKenzie (21)
Bench: Dane Coles (58), Ofa Tuungafasi (24), Nepo Laulala (15), Scott Barrett (27), Matt Todd (16), TJ Perenara (53), Richie Mo’unga (6), Anton Lienert-Brown (31)
SHARE ME