All Blacks No.9 Smith could match Genia
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He might not be in Will Genia’s league just yet, but Ireland defence coach Les Kiss believes new All Black halfback Aaron Smith has the ability to get to the Wallabies No.9′s level.
The Highlanders halfback gave a sparkling display in his Test debut as the All Blacks thumped Ireland 42-10 in Auckland, leaving many commentators, including Kiss, extolling the 23-year-old’s virtues.
“He’s not the the same as Genia, but he’s a boy who’s heading in the right direction.
“He’s not Genia yet, but he’s got something in him, hasn’t he?” Kiss told reporters ahead of the second Test in Christchurch.
The 23-year-old posed questions around the ruck and set the backline away with his tracer-like passing ability, giving Daniel Carter an armchair ride, something the five-eighth appreciated.
“He’s got a great pass and so I can use that to my advantage, knowing that I can have a little bit more time and space outside me,” Carter said.
Kiss, a former Australian rugby league international, said Ireland would try to curb the danger the No.9 posed, but Carter was confident if Smith was given added attention by the Irish pack, he would cope.
“I’m sure he’ll be a threat, whether they target him or not.”
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The Crowd Says (19) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Aaron Smith, All Blacks, Ireland Rugby, Rugby Union, Will Genia
June 16th 2012 @ 4:05am
The Werewolf said | June 16th 2012 @ 4:05am | Report comment
Plus Perenera will be putting pressure on him within the next 12 months I’d say. Healthy times for the AB’s ahead.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:00am
Kirkizzle said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:00am | Report comment
Perenara has broken his ankle in last nights game and is out for the rest of the season
June 16th 2012 @ 10:07am
Wizard said | June 16th 2012 @ 10:07am | Report comment
As an Aussie supporter, I’m hoping Smith isn’t the man. I feel this position has been NZs weak link for yrs and always gives us an advantage where we struggle to find one elsewhere..there nines of yester year were awesome, Going,Kirk and arguably the greatest passer of a rugby ball in the modern era Graeme Bachop. After BAchops retirement they continued going for a passing 9 and tried Mcgahan,Hewitt,STrachan,Forster but neither could establish themselves. Then they became infatuated with these bullocking halfbacks after the emergence of Junior Tonu’u. Since then, Marshall, Kelleher,Cowan Weepu have held fort. These guys over play their hands and are all angry characters. As good as Marshall was and even given he had his crusader mate beside him in either mehrtens or carter at international level he was overshadowed by gregan. I have always considered NZ lack of consistency in selections post Marshall to be an advantage toAustralia in such an important position and I hope it continues to be the one weakness amongst 1000 strengths. In saying that, smith looks great and unlike Leonard, Kerr Barlow,Weepu,Mathewson, Weepu,Cowan he has this ability to underplay his hand which is too his benefit.
June 16th 2012 @ 10:17am
moaman said | June 16th 2012 @ 10:17am | Report comment
Do you remember Lyn Colling,Wizard? He had a great pass on him too but was over-shadowed by Sid Going and his running game.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:10am
ohtani's jacket said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:10am | Report comment
Kelleher, Cowan and Weepu all regularly outplayed Gregan and Genia in test matches. Genia has been a disappointment in Bledisloe tests for a player who’s supposed to be the best in the world at his position. If it’s an advantage for Australia it’s never materialised.
June 16th 2012 @ 3:42pm
Justin2 said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
If that’s the case it’s not that surprising considering the relative inexperience of WG at those times. He also doesn’t get front foot ball nearly as often as those guys did.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:40am
Sprigs said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:40am | Report comment
We Wallabologists are happy to lend NZ rugby a helping hand by sending them Melbourne-born, Darwin-raised Tawera Kerr-Barlow.
However, I hope (for our sake) that the AB selectors continue not to select him for their team.
He is too good.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:55am
Wizard said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Whilst everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, if one can’t see that stability at number nine has been e greatest bugbear of NZ post Marshall then I’m sorry but your on a different planet. Even graeme Henry was quoted as saying this. Additionally it’s a subjective to say who outplayed who in test matches as nine is largely dependent on the forward supremacy . Towards the end of his career there may have been the odd game where he was outplayed but that coincided with NZ dominance as a team.. I would say the the all blacks at times managed to smother gregans ability to get his team going and perform skillfully but to say they regularly outplayed him is nonsense. The people you have mentioned have all been detrimental to the performance of the NZ backline, Weepu and Cowan in particular, Kelleher to a lesser extent, because of either their poor service or selfishness in playing as an individual.
I defended strongly there on gregan because I did say that he overshadowed his opposites. To say it never materialised is nonsense as well. If the word materialize equates to victories, then I point to that during gregans halcyon days 98-03 he had a win rate of just under 70% in games v nz, and if it means a technical victory over his opposite number because he is more adept in performing the skills required of a scrum half then yes it has materialized as well because the players NZ selected are great footballers no doubt, strong fast etc but technically not up to gregans standard at his best.
However I didn’t say that about GEnia, although, technically, I like most feel he is the best passer of a rugby ball since bachop and Richard hill of England, but like all nines when they are under the pump they are vulnerable. ANd yes it hasnt materialised for austrlalia becasue like you said he hasnt played well in NZ games. BUt they would be better and even more a difficult proposition if they selected a better nine. I guess my point is, i I do feel today if nz had a good nine that distributes they would be totally complete and all powerful but whilst they continue to select these robust, technically poor players their backline potential will be limited.
June 16th 2012 @ 1:04pm
Darwin Stubbie said | June 16th 2012 @ 1:04pm | Report comment
Bit of a circular argument really because the kiwis look for different things from their scrum halves …. I doubt a Genia type would make the ABs mainly because NZ don’t want the all singing, all dancing 9 …. They’ve tended toward the additional loose forward type who is primarily there to drive the forwards and get the backs started – those halfbacks you’ve mentioned have all done exactly what was required and they have never been a weak point in the team -just because they don’t play a similar game to Genia doesn’t mean they’ve not been effective
June 16th 2012 @ 3:29pm
Fog said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
Think you have a point there Darwin. I am sure the All Blacks coaches would adapt if they had a halfback with Genia’s gifts but the way they have used halfbacks in the last four years with Jimmy and Piri has been a superb example of how to use that position to get the best out of your team. When Jimmy was starting they used Piri to change the tempo of the game and push the team to then end of the game. Piri was just as important as Dan in getting many a late win. His toughness and game management abilities were just as important as any of the classical half back skills. It was those management abilities which saw him move to the starting role over the last couple of years. When we started to chew through first fives during the world cup it was Piri who became the game manager and took us through the quarter and semi and most of the final in spite of a number of ailments, playing key roles in each, including the pin point kick in the final setting up the lineout from which Woodcock’s try was scored. In the semi he showed Genia how to manage a game. In that game, the mental difference between the two was huge. Maybe Genia will use the lesson one day on the way to a world cup win.
June 16th 2012 @ 3:52pm
abnutta said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:52pm | Report comment
Agree Darwin but I have always pined for a Chris Laidlaw/Charlie Saxton halfback who can bullet that ball to the All Black backlines that we’ve had for the better part of the last 20 years.
I remember Graeme Bachop well and I have no hesitation in saying that Aaron Smith passes the ball better/flatter/faster and harder than any halfback I’ve ever seen. Granted that Bachop played a lot of his test career with the Brown and black ball and not the easy-grip-everyone-can-be-colin meads balls we have today.
I have read that Laidlaw could bullet pass the old leather 30 yards flat at chest height in the 1960s.
June 16th 2012 @ 4:30pm
ohtani's jacket said | June 16th 2012 @ 4:30pm | Report comment
Kelleher, Cowan and Weepu provided stability at halfback. Just look at the number of tests they played under Henry. They weren’t the best running and passing halfbacks in the world, but New Zealand didn’t have great running and passing halfbacks during that era. The alternatives to Kelleher, Cowan and Weepu were Ellis, Leonard and Mathewson and Kelleher, Cowan and Weepu were the players who better fit the All Black framework.
If you’re talking about instability at All Black level, there are far better examples: centre after Tana retired and during the period were Smith was injury prone, lock after Jack’s retirement and Williams’ season ending injuries (and even before that with depth issues), tighthead after Hayman and Somerville departed, wing during Henry’s second tenure, first five whenever Carter was injured, even the loosies replacing Collins and So’oiolo and having someone to back-up McCaw. The only time halfback was a real problem was during the 2008 Tri-Nations where Ellis and Cowan struggled, which eventually led to Weepu’s recall after Henry had axed him from the World Cup squad.
The All Blacks halves regularly outplayed Gregan from 05-07. Gregan had a bigger rep in NZ than he did in Australia (or at least on this site, where he’s not one of the more beloved figures in Australian rugby.) For many of us, Gregan was the All Black nemesis when it came to the Wallabies. He was a McCaw figure in terms of the person who personified frustration with the opposition. During that time period, little by little we became rather comfortable facing Gregan because he faded. Bryon Kelleher may never have reached the heights that George Gregan did, but at that time the All Blacks were doing better with Kelleher than the Wallabies were with Gregan. If you’re going to argue that it’s because of forward packs (and certainly the ascendency of one pack over the over plays a part, including in Gregan’s best years) then ought to concede that whatever advantage a player like Genia supposedly has it’s negated by playing behind a weaker pack and therefore not a true advantage at all.
The All Black backline has gone through patches where it had trouble scoring tries. It struggled in 2008 and 2009 in part because of the law changes, because they struggled with rush defence and the high bomb, but mainly because the backlines Henry & Co. chose didn’t work as a unit. During that time, halfback was not as big an issue as the back three and Carter’s absence whenever he was injured. But aside from crabbing and the odd tests where the delivery has been slow or poor, halfback hasn’t prevented the All Blacks from scoring or more importantly winning. One of the reasons why the All Blacks win so often is because they dominate the second half through pick and go, and Weepu has orchestrated a lot of that.
Genia may have a better pass than NZ halfbacks and he definitely has a better running game, but it doesn’t mean much when he stands over the ball like an Emperor penguin or employs those box kicks of his. There are flaws in his game the same as Weepu or Cowan. Pure skill is only one aspect of rugby. Henry took Cowan and Weepu with limited skills and used them to maximum benefit. That’s not a weakness. If Genia kept displaying individual brilliance against the All Blacks you might have a point but he doesn’t. In most of the big games in recent times, Weepu has been all over him.
And anyone who watched last week’s game can tell you that Aaron Smith has a lot to learn before he’s winning Bledlisloe Cup tests for NZ. Great pass, zero experience. I sometimes think there is a huge divide between NZ and Australian rugby where you guys focus on talent and we focus on systems and team dynamics. That’s how it appears to me, anyway.
June 16th 2012 @ 4:58pm
Wizard said | June 16th 2012 @ 4:58pm | Report comment
Some good points OJ, you are right on and I agree with many things you say. I use to live passing those old leather Adidas balls that hada french name on them. Gregan did fade and gave ground. In terms of game management and execution he was fantastic at his best. I will agree to disagree on Weepu Cowan etc. technically they are below standard ,but brilliant game and footballing sense. I do agree genia has flaws and they will
L try and exploit them tonite.
I disagree with the fact that they did their job..that’s Weepu and Cowan or matthewson or Leonard or Ellis ,.none of them grabbed the jersey and said its mine. Week in week out ,month in month out the thought process on selection would vhange. Marshy held it for eighty odd caps. You need stability at nine and I would hate to see how devastating the all blacks would be if they could get this right.thats my opinion anyway. And I do rememer Colling and heard of laid law,they were both superb.
June 16th 2012 @ 3:40pm
Kuruki said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:40pm | Report comment
Perenara out for the season broken ankle in a friendly FFS !!! He is a kid playing in his first season of Super Rugby why the heck would you play him in a friendly instead of giving him a break.
Kerr-Barlow for mine is going to be the best option to come off the bench. Perenara and Smith fighting for the starting role, Kerr-Barlow brings that rugged strength and strong running game.
June 16th 2012 @ 3:44pm
Justin2 said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:44pm | Report comment
Doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly or not those things happen.
June 16th 2012 @ 3:59pm
abnutta said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:59pm | Report comment
Don’t get me started on that. Should’ve been playing in the North South match instead of a friendly against QLD. At least an injury in the Island match would have been “for” something instead of just a hit out and now he has to sit out.
June 16th 2012 @ 3:41pm
Justin2 said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:41pm | Report comment
Didn’t realiisE he was 23, not much younger than WG
June 16th 2012 @ 3:49pm
dcnz said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:49pm | Report comment
yes greegs was good in his day and genia’s main strength is reading the attack options when the wallabies win in the forwards. he can look ordinary like most nines when its going wrong, a la the Scotland game.
the finding of aaron smith fits into the new AB game plan, hit him hard at the breakdown, and clear the ball quickly to DC, who can then decide where the ball goes next. Conrad Smith acts as a manager, pivot, around SBW and the wingers and Dagg swing in when the counter-attack or fast ball recycle is on. Pace, position, possession….blah etc.
Kerr-Barlow has a way to go yet…
June 16th 2012 @ 4:26pm
falcore said | June 16th 2012 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
Not that I disagree, but the coach of a team that’s recently been spanked extolling the virtues of the spanker is not exactly unheard of.