'I'm willing to pay for my body': Aaron Smith's secret to longevity
All Blacks talisman Aaron Smith will play his 100th test on Saturday night when he runs out onto Eden Park to face up with the Wallabies and the 32-year-old has shed some light on how he’s able to maintain his impeccable standards.
Smith debuted for New Zealand in 2012 and has been an almost guaranteed selection in the No 9 jersey since he arrived on the international scene due to his exceptional passing and second-to-none aerobic fitness.
Curiously, however, Smith hasn’t looked like the years are starting to catch up with him. If anything, the Highlanders co-captain appears to be getting better with age and is still just as quick around the park as he was when he first burst into the test arena as a 23-year-old.
The man himself has confirmed that he feels he’s in better physical shape than in years gone by, which should signal to the rest of the world that come the 2023 World Cup, the All Blacks are still likely to have a fit and firing Aaron Smith running the show from the No 9 jersey, despite the fact that he’ll be almost 35.
“I’ve said it a few times, but I feel better now than I did in my late-20s,” said Smith at the launch of the latest All Blacks jersey. “It’s all about what you’re willing to put in, but the mental side of it is easy.”
Smith acknowledged that while he’s mastered the mentality that’s needed to be a professional athlete at the highest level of the game, maintaining peak physical condition is still an ongoing challenge.
“The top two inches is easy around getting mentally ready for things,” he said. “But physically it’s just hard work. There is no substitution. You earn everything you get.
“I watch a lot of sports overseas around athletes I like that motivate me. The longevity is more around consistency, and little things done well and often. It’s small sacrifices, but there are big rewards if you are able to stay committed to something.”
The man considered by many to be the best in his position in the world – despite fierce competition from South Africa’s Faf de Klerk and France’s Antoine Dupont – hasn’t been afraid to seek external help to keep himself fit and ready to go each and every week.
No matter how well you look after your body, age creeps up on everyone, even professional athletes, which is why Smith has had to seek assistance in ensuring he can maintain his exceptional standards and adjust the way he prepares and recovers from matches.
Aaron Smith is about to join an exclusive club at 32-years-old with plenty left to give. #NZLvAUS #BledisloeCup https://t.co/iMqI0K0n34
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 5, 2021
“I can’t just go run the roads like I used to,” he acknowledged. My knees and joints don’t like it. But there are watt bikes and things now to help if you’re willing.
“I do a lot of stuff before I even get to training in the mornings. I’ve got a very good routine around where I know I need to get my body to, and spend a lot of time with nutrionists around the fuel I put in.
“I spend a lot of money on recovery. I get a couple of rubs a week, and I’m very stringent with recovery pumps, ice baths and sauna. I have all that at home. I’m willing to pay for my body and I’m willing to make sure that it gives me as much as it can.”
Rugby players of the pre-professional era may baulk at the lengths Smith has to go to keep him running out onto the park week upon week – but it simply shows how committed the 32-year-old is to being the best player he can be.
In Auckland on Saturday Smith will become the 10th player to clock up a century of matches for the All Blacks – and the first halfback to achieve the feat.
The match kicks off at 7:05pm from Eden Park.
Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
22 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
22 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
22 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to comments