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'Pretty unrealistic': Aaron Smith unlikely to play against Ireland
The All Blacks have played down the prospect of Aaron Smith making his long-awaited return to test rugby against Ireland in Dublin this weekend.
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Smith was a surprise call-up to the All Blacks squad on Tuesday after having not played for New Zealand in three months by virtue of opting to skip the Rugby Championship and end-of-year tour to stay at home for the birth of his second child.
However, injuries to Brad Weber and Finlay Christie have forced the All Blacks to call upon Smith, whose cild, Leo, was born in recent weeks.
Considering Smith wasn’t expected to play for the All Blacks for the rest of the year, the 101-test veteran’s recall came as a surprise as the national selectors seemed comfortable rotating Weber, Christie and TJ Perenara in the No 9 jersey.
That has been the case in New Zealand’s eight previous tests, all of which have come since Smith’s last outing for the All Blacks, which was against the Wallabies in his side’s second Bledisloe Cup victory at Eden Park in August.
Hopes that Smith will end his absence in the black jersey against the Irish in what is a highly-anticipated fixture at Aviva Stadium on Sunday [NZT] have been watered down, though.
Speaking to media on Wednesday [NZT], All Blacks assistant coach John Plumtree said it is “pretty unrelaistic” to expect the 32-year-old, who is currently in transit to Europe, to play at such short notice.
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Instead, Plumtree is banking on the form of Perenara and the fitness of Christie to guide them through this week’s test, which Weber is unlikely to play a part of after he broke his nose and failed a head injury assessment against Italy in Rome last weekend.
“Right now, we’ve got three 9s [Perenara, Christie and Weber] in the hunt for this weekend’s start,” Plumtree told reporters from Dublin.
“Aaron’s only arriving on Wednesday, doesn’t know what the plan is, so it’s pretty unrealistic to think that Aaron’s going to be playing on the weekend.
“TJ, pretty happy with his form. All of them are going pretty well. Obviously Brad’s got his HIA protocols that he’s going through this week, and Finlay [has a] little bit of an issue with his neck, but he trained today. Expecting him to be fit for the weekend.”
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Should Smith miss this week’s contest against Ireland, he would stand as a strong candidate to start in New Zealand’s season-ending clash against France in Paris next week in a test billed as one of the biggest on the All Blacks’ international calendar.
Veteran halfback Aaron Smith has been handed a shock recall into the All Blacks squad ahead of the side’s clash against Ireland in Dublin this weekend. #AllBlacks #IREvNZL #AutumnNationsSeries https://t.co/wChMXIhwLN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 9, 2021
His experience, leadership, world-class passing, high levels of energy and pinpoint box-kicking would serve the All Blacks well as he remains the undoubted first-choice halfback option in New Zealand.
Fielding Smith against Les Bleus would also present a juicy match-up at No 9, with France possessing highly-touted rising star Antoine Dupont.
Smith said earlier this year that he would relish the chance to square off against Dupont, who he described earlier this year as “probably the best halfback in the world”, for the first time since 2017.
“If things go well, I could hopefully get over to the end of year tour and I’d love nothing more than to have a go against Dupont,” Smith said in September.
“He’s probably the best halfback in the world at the moment. He’s outstanding. Playing in Paris against the French, that’s a pretty awesome script.
“Also, that’s where the next World Cup is so those kinds of things, and building to things like that [are exciting].”
Plumtree added that prop Angus Ta’avao, who dislocated his elbow in the lead-up to the test against Wales a fortnight ago, is the squad’s only other injury concern after wing Sevu Reece shook off a bruised bone he suffered against Italy.
“He’s fine, trained full-out today and did his annual kicking competition against Fozzy I think the other day,” Plumtree said of Reece.
“I think he looked alright, and he’s got a big smile on his face when he’s walking around happy, so he’s good.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
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