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

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:

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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.

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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 colleague and former All Blacks No. 9 Justin Marshall, which was reproduced by the Otago Daily Times:

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‘The players who are receiving the ball from the next phase aren't waiting for him. They can see him and they're on the move the whole time, instead of going from a standing start…  Because he's so quick to the breakdown, defenders aren't getting into a good position to deal with him when he decides to run. So now we're seeing his running game becoming a real threat in the All Blacks' attacking arsenal.’

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Passing

Smith isn’t just about blistering speed. His service is bordering on perfect, another trait Wynne Gray highlights with the help of another New Zealand half-back, Chris Laidlaw: “’His passing with both hands is immaculate and he knows when to fire and when to give a softer delivery.’”

Decision-making

Smith’s experience has only served to sharpen the tools at his disposal, because he knows innately, it seems, when to pass, kick or run. Again, Wynne Gray calls on former All Blacks scrum–half Dave Loveridge to explain:

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‘The key is when to execute those skills and Smith's understanding is like a good five eighths summing up situations. He is also a great communicator and as time has gone by, his confidence to act with authority, has grown.’

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And this all-round ability has prompted some to tip him as a potential captain when Richie McCaw finally hangs up his boots. Already, he has tied with Kieran Read in a New Zealand Herald poll as the most irreplaceable All Black.

One of the greats

If you go back down the list of World Cup-winning sides, a commanding No. 9 has been a regular feature of those teams, a player who can act as general, as well as hurt teams in a heartbeat with swift deeds. George Gregan, Joost van der Westhuizen, Matt Dawson; they could all do it. So could Justin Marshall. He just never got the medal to go with his talents.

The feeling, certainly in New Zealand, is that Smith belongs in the company of the great ones but, more than that, has the potential to surpass them, as Gray sums up.

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There is accord from the former greats that, by some margin, Smith is the current best in black, probably the best half-back in the modern world and well in the frame for best in All Black history.

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No other side in the competition can award such billing to a single one of their players.