Why Aaron Smith Will Be New Zealand’s X-Factor at 2015 Rugby Championship

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 14, 2015

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The All Blacks mount the defence of their Rugby Championship title next weekend when they host Argentina.

The world champions will start as overwhelming favourites against the Pumas, who will offer a convenient warm-up before Steve Hansen’s men move to the next level against South Africa and Australia.

This year’s championship, comprising only one contest between each side as they make space in the schedule for World Cup preparations, will be over in the blink of an eye.

And that is often all it takes for New Zealand’s first-choice No. 9 to do terminal damage to the opposition.

Aaron Smith is, as Steve Hepburn of the Otago Daily Times via the New Zealand Herald put it, in the “form of his life.”

Indeed, Hepburn, writing as Smith’s Super Rugby Franchise the Highlanders progressed to the 2015 title, proclaimed:

If Smith maintains this form for the next three or four years, he will clearly be the best halfback this country has produced. At the moment, he shares the top table with the likes of Sid Going, Chris Laidlaw, David Loveridge and Justin Marshall.

So what is it about the 26-year-old that makes him so special to the All Blacks?



Speed

Put simply, Smith has bags of pace. Furthermore, he seems to be able to max out his speedometer from a standing start in a time frame the fastest sports cars would baulk at.

Witness his key moment (1:07 into the video) in the Highlanders’ playoff game against the Chiefs. Smith was up and gone from the base of a scrum before the opposition back row could react, and set off to create a two on one with right wing Waisake Naholo for a crucial score.

His pace also plays another vital role in his game. He arrives before the majority of the loose forwards to the breakdown. The New Zealand Herald’s Wynne Gray picked up on this observation by his coll...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

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