Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith named greatest All Blacks midfielders
Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith have been named as the greatest All Blacks midfielders of all-time by a panel of rugby experts and the Kiwi public.
As part of Sky Sport’s quest to find New Zealand’s Greatest XV, a panel of leading journalists and broadcasters – Grant Nisbett, Ken Laban, Rikki Swannell and Phil Gifford – were last week asked by The Breakdown who they thought were the country’s best-ever second-five and centre.
The panel were unanimous in their verdict that Nonu, the two-time World Cup-winning veteran, was the leading candidate to fill the No 12 jersey.
That decision that was backed by the public, who have the former 103-test star 85 percent of the vote to beat out the likes ofBill Osborne, Walter Little and Warwick Taylor to make the Greatest XV.
However, there was a split decision at centre, as although the expert panel decided on Bruce Robertson as their pick at No 13, 57 percent of the public deemed Smith as the best centre New Zealand has ever had.
The impasse led to a tie-breaker call by former All Blacks head coach Sir Graham Henry, the “convener of selectors”, who agreed with the public and confirmed Smith’s place in the team.
Nonu and Smith are widely-regarded as one of the best midfield combinations in the history of rugby, having paired with each other for the All Blacks, Hurricanes and Wellington throughout their respective careers.
At test level, the duo were the incumbent All Blacks midfielders between 2008 and 2015, and both played key roles in New Zealand’s back-to-back World Cup titles in 2011 and 2015.
Ex-All Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu was a teammate of Nonu’s at the All Blacks and the Blues, and he described the 39-year-old as one of the best players ever to take to the field for New Zealand.
“He will go down as one of our most amazing All Blacks,” Mealamu told Sky Sport. “He could do the things that Jonah [Lomu] did, as well as Cully [Christian Cullen]. Great step, and developed a pass and a kick like no other.”
Former All Blacks captain Riche McCaw spoke highly of his former test teammate’s selflessness and willingness to do the upmost for the team.
“He always gave everything for the jersey. He was about the team being successful and what he could do to help,” McCaw said.
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“The other thing that I really liked is he didn’t just tow the line. He’d speak up about things he didn’t agree with or he thought would contribute to help the team and, because of his actions, people respected that.”
Ex-All Blacks boss Sir Steve Hansen, who coached Nonu either as an assistant or head coach throughout the entirety of his test career, said his desire to become a better player after missing out on the 2007 World Cup squad heavily influenced his legacy.
“Not getting in the ’07 team hurt him. He went away and worked on his game, and his passing got better, his kicking got better, his fitness got better, so it’s allowed him to do the things that we needed him to do more often,” Hansen told Sky Sport.
“There was just a real drive to want to be in the All Blacks, and if you’ve got the real drive, then you get to use it every day. It’s not a spasmodic thing, it’s something that’s consistent. He became a more consistent player.”
Former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga, a teammate and mentor of Nonu’s in the early days of his All Blacks, Hurricanes and Wellington career, echoed Hansen’s sentiments.
“He was a blockbusting winger, outside back, that, if given the ball, he could make things happen,” Umaga said of Nonu in the infancy of his career.
“Yet, that’s all he was seen as, and he was very good at it. Then he had a couple of setbacks, and he showed that, ‘Yep, I don’t want to finish my career like that,’ and he developed into the world’s best midfielder, as a No 12.
“He developed the passing game, a kicking game, a great knowledge, defensively, of strategy.”
Smith, meanwhile, also drew praise from Umaga, who he was in direct competition with for a place in the Greatest XV.
“He’s the ultimate competitor is what I’ve learned from watching Conrad,” Umaga told Sky Sport of the 94-test veteran, who, like Nonu, he played alongside at the All Blacks, Hurricanes and Wellington in the early-to-mid 2000s.
“We’ve spoken to the player in question, and he has taken full responsibility for his conduct in this incident. He knows it was unacceptable and is disappointed with himself.”https://t.co/PfJsm1jxyd
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“His courage is what really sets him apart. You add to that his quickness of thought; he might not have been the fastest player, but he was very smart around understanding that strategic part of the game and knowing where to be at the right time and seeing plays unfold and the best position to be in to support, make a tackle, get the ball back.
“Again, his growth in all those areas, I think that’s what sets him apart from a lot of other midfielders.”
McCaw noted that Smith’s intelligence allowed him to overcome his physical shortcomings and flourish as an international midfielder.
“When he started, he wasn’t that big for a centre at that time,” McCaw told Sky Sport.
“But, man, by the end, his impact, because of the way he understood the game, and defensively, even if he’s against bigger fellas, he knew where to be, how to work with others to ensure there was no gaps, all those sorts of things, and knew the right options to take. I think that’s what set him apart from most others.
“He had the ability to make people look good around him as well, and the way he directed and led a backline was really remarkable, and probably doesn’t get enough kudos for the impact he had.
“Just from a leadership point of view, he was brilliant in terms of leading our team with how we were going, but also how he helped people around him.”
All Blacks Greatest XV
1. Tony Woodcock (118 tests from 2002-2015)
2. Sean Fitzpatrick (92 tests from 1986-1997)
3. Ken Gray (24 tests from 1963-1969)
4. Colin Meads (55 tests from 1957-1971)
5. Brodie Retallick (85 tests from 2012-present)
6. Michael Jones (56 tests from 1986-1998)
7. Richie McCaw (148 tests from 2001-2015)
8. Zinzan Brooke (58 tests from 1987 to 1997)
9. Aaron Smith (101 tests from 2012-present)
10. Dan Carter (112 tests from 2003-2015)
11. N/A
12. Ma’a Nonu (103 tests from 2003-2015)
13. Conrad Smith (94 tests from 2004-2015)
14. N/A
15. N/A
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Comments on RugbyPass
I 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.
19 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.
7 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.
19 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 🤐
19 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….
19 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 commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments