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DUBLIN - All Blacks centre Conrad Smith is eagerly awaiting another testing time against one of international rugby's premier midfielders, Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll.
Smith earning his 23rd test cap was the only minor selection issue raised in the aftermath of Graham Henry's naming of a full-strength line-up for Sunday's (NZT) test against Ireland here at Croke Park.
Richard Kahui, pressed his claims with a man-of-the-match performance against Scotland in Edinburgh last weekend, but Henry opted to reunite the proven combination of Smith and Ma'a Nonu in midfield.
Smith felt relieved after admiring Kahui's work during the All Blacks' 32-6 win over Scotland.
"It makes you feel a bit twitchy," he admitted of his rival's form.
"You're happy for them though. The good thing about being in the All Blacks that's different from other sides - because it's a team focus a lot more you always want to see guys going well.
"I always knew he'd would play well. He's a class player. It's the beauty of being an All Black I suppose - you face a lot of competition from the guys you play against (domestically) and the guys within your team."
Smith even expressed a degree of sympathy for Kahui, who set up one try and scored another to put the result beyond doubt.
"I've been in a similar position to where he is, feeling like you're playing well but can't sort of crack into the side. It's something we all go through."
The 27-year-old has long been touted as a latter day Bruce Robertson in terms of his vision and distribution, but a succession of injuries have limited his game time since the 2006 Super 14.
A lengthy rehabilitation from a broken leg saw him taken to the World Cup last year on trust and he had to be content with meaningless caps against Portugal, Scotland and Romania in pool play.
However, Smith has started nine of the All Blacks dozen tests this year, including the 21-11 triumph against the Irish in June - his first encounter with O'Driscoll.
Although atrocious weather at Wellington stadium generally consigned the backlines to defensive duties and kick chases, Smith had one memorable moment when he stood up O'Driscoll to send Sitiveni Sivivatu over for the All Blacks first try.
Smith was not about to dwell on that minor victory in the lead-up to his rematch. He acknowledges that O'Driscoll is an obvious key to Ireland ending a 103-year winless streak against New Zealand this weekend.
"It wasn't really a game to see the centres at their best but I've always rated him as a great player," said Smith, who ranked the 86-cap veteran as the game's leading centre alongside Australian captain Stirling Mortlock.
"I've played Stirling a lot more but you know what O'Driscoll is capable of."
Smith effortlessly reeled off O'Driscoll's attributes, pausing on his work at the tackle.
"He's great at breakdown - he's probably set a benchmark for midfielders by the way competes at the tackle area."
O'Driscoll was not his usual dominant self against the Canadians in Limerick last weekend but Smith and assistant coach Wayne Smith adhered to the sporting maxim that class is permanent.
"O'Driscoll is a factor," Smith emphasised.
"He's as big a brute on attack as he is on defence. He's a good player over the ball on the tackle."
O'Driscoll's junior partner in midfield, Leinster teammate Luke Fitzgerald, was also highly rated just five caps into his test career while Robert Kearney, who had an excellent game in Wellington at fullback, is also a threat on the wing.
"We were pretty impressed when they came out to New Zealand," Smith said of the Irish backs.
"They're quite sophisticated the way they move late, they change the picture late defensively. They do a lot of decoy running - they're very well coached and have good thinkers."
The All Blacks had a day off training and analysing the opposition as they prepared to move into the city centre from their rural retreat.
Henry said regulating the squad's workloads remained a significant challenge during the compressed seven-match tour.
"They've been playing rugby since the beginning of February so we've got to be realistic in what we try to do at training, we need to be sharp there and not go too long."
- NZPA
