Ben Smith is attended to do after taking a knock during the Highlanders' draw with the Chiefs. Photosport
Ben Smith is attended to do after taking a knock during the Highlanders' draw with the Chiefs. Photosport
Before the dust had settled on another extraordinary match under the roof in Dunedin last night, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen had moved from his place in the stand to sit beside Ben Smith, the Highlanders fullback and co-captain who had just sent the country's collective blood pressure soaring.
Thegood news for Hansen and All Blacks supporters is that Smith is okay because he looked anything but when he was helped from the field, blood dripping from a small cut on his face, with six minutes remaining.
Most worrying was the fact he couldn't put any weight on his left leg, one of two that the All Blacks will be relying on to carry them deep into this year's Rugby World Cup which kicks off in September and presumably give them a chance to win their third in a row.
He grimaced as he finally got to his seat on the sideline and anyone who knows the 32-year-old, a man as tough as anyone to have played for the Highlanders, will realise that was not comforting.
Fortunately, it is a hamstring injury rather than a knee problem and no doubt the man known as Bender, who possesses a sense of humour drier than the Taieri Plains at the end of a hot summer, would have been smiling about all the fuss.
Ben Smith of the Highlanders makes a break during the round 10 Super Rugby match between the Highlanders and the Blues at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
How important is he to the All Blacks' chances in Japan? Well, he is doubly so in the wake of Damian McKenzie's knee injury which will keep him out of all rugby for the rest of the year, but he was always looming as perhaps the most important back Hansen will select.
Jordie Barrett is coming into some form for the Hurricanes and it's clear that he will be Smith's back-up, but you can't simply replace the experience and knowledge of someone who has played 76 tests over 10 years, a man who didn't think he was good enough initially but who has developed into the perhaps greatest fullback to play for the All Blacks during the professional era.
Smith's mistakes at the back, even when under a bit of pressure, are so rare they have the capacity to genuinely surprise, and his ability to create something on the counter against even apparently well-organised defences has exactly the same effect even though we've seen it so often.
Ben Smith of the Highlanders during the Super Rugby match between the Highlanders and the Blues, held at the Forsyth Barr Stadium. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Think back four years ago to the World Cup final against Australia at Twickenham. The All Blacks had planned for the contingency of losing a player to the sin bin, but they didn't plan on losing Smith (in the second half for a tip-tackle on Wallabies wing Drew Mitchell).
The All Blacks conceded two tries during that time – the first to David Pocock to a driving maul and the second to Tevita Kuridrani after a kick in back play to which the All Blacks had no answer but almost certainly would have had Smith been on the field.
It was a one-two punch that brought the Wallabies to within four points with 16 minutes remaining and while the All Blacks weren't on the ropes, the Australian supporters and neutrals in the crowd suddenly became a lot more interested and so did the opposition.
Smith helped settle Kiwi nerves on his return, and it was his kick-through which allowed Beauden Barrett to streak away for the converted try on fulltime which sealed the 34-17 victory, a scoreline which doesn't do justice to the tense nature of what was perhaps the most open and exciting World Cup final yet.
The Highlanders could have done with Smith's leadership on the field in Dunedin as they let slip a seven-point lead in the final two minutes to draw with the Chiefs, a result after a match that left players from both teams physically and mentally shattered.
He automatically improves any team he is in and Hansen knows that better than anyone. Smith is required in Japan.
