1
'I went and watched Game of Thrones with him last night' - Why Aaron Smith backs Ben Smith to make speedy recovery
Highlanders and All Blacks star halfback Aaron Smith is backing his teammate and co-captain Ben Smith to make a speedy recovery from the hamstring injury he sustained against the Chiefs on Saturday night.
ADVERTISEMENT
Smith, the 32-year-old fullback, may have played his last game for the franchise of which he debuted for in 2009 after straining his hamstring after falling awkwardly in the tackle of Chiefs loose forward Luke Jacobson during the two side’s 31-all draw at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
The injury is expected to rule him out for between six to eight weeks, meaning he might not feature for the side again this year should the Highlanders fail to qualify for the play-offs in six weeks’ time.
However, Aaron Smith is providing his long-time Super Rugby and international teammate with as much support as possible, and believes the 76-test veteran could come back sooner than expected, in similar fashion to how he returned to action two weeks ahead of schedule after straining his ankle against the Blues in March.
“I went and watched Game of Thrones with him last night and made sure I got around him,” Smith told RugbyPass in Dunedin on Tuesday.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxJgq97ADPC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“He’s a good mate of mine and I just went and checked on him and he seems good, he was icing his leg and he’s already in that mindset that he’s going to be back quicker than six to eight [weeks], so positive for him.
“These things, you’ve just got to look at them in a positive light. It’s a big blow for us, but, as I said, that’s rugby, and we [have a] ‘next man up’ kind of mindset, but we’ll still need Bender’s influence off the field as well.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Aaron Smith played an integral role in the opening hour of the Highlanders’ performance on Saturday, assisting three tries with his rapid yet accurate passing game before being pulled from the field around the hour mark.
That performance followed another noteworthy outing a week beforehand against the Sunwolves in Tokyo, his second match and first start since returning from injury, but the 30-year-old said he’s still building towards his peak form.
“I’m getting there. The first start in Tokyo was great, it’s just the game time and being able to be back to that full match fitness – it’s coming,” he said.
“I’m working really hard on and off the field and trying to get my body back, but my leg’s responding really well to training at the moment.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I’m pretty much 100 [percent], which is great, but the ankle’s holding up good.”
Both he and the rest of the Highlanders will hope that he is at 100 percent fitness as the southerners prepare to host the Jaguares this Saturday on the first leg of their four-match Australasian tour.
The Argentines are renowned for their traditionally forward-orientated style of play, but the Highlanders could look to use Smith’s lethal passing game to run them off the park, especially if he continues his rich vein of form.
“Yeah, hopefully,” he said with a laugh when asked if his passing game would again be used as a weapon to dismantle the Jaguares.
“I think they only arrived today. We know how hard it is to travel to Argentina and play, and how much the flight takes the juice out of you, so they’re coming here, we’re the first game of their tour, and we’re pretty desperate to put last week’s result [behind us] and make sure this week’s a better one for us.
“I think we’re pretty determined and hungry to put out a performance that our people deserve this week.
“My role in this team is to play at speed and fire the ball out and there’s no excuses here to throw any bricks with dry ball, so hopefully I can do my job and do it really well.”
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments