Fresh, fit and firing: ABs star Ben Smith shows benefits of a well-timed break
Ben Smith: 'Taking a bit of time out showed me how much I love the game and how much I enjoy the team environment.'
As rugby continues to wrestle with the ludicrous toll it exacts of its best players, Ben Smith is emerging as a poster boy for the benefits of a proper off-season, not to mention sensible contracting.
The Highlanders and All Blacks fullback looks, well, a million dollars through the first half of Super Rugby. His play has been razor-sharp, he has a spring in his step and, most important of all, a smile on his face as he has rediscovered his passion for this game he loves.
That, of course, is due in no small part to the sabbatical (read break) Smith was granted by his employers at New Zealand Rugby that saw him step away after the second Bledisloe last August and take the remainder of the year to rest his body, clear his mind, reconnect with his family, and then rebuild his strength.
Ben Smith sparks an attack for the Highlanders against the Blues on Friday.
As a result Smith had something that is fast becoming a thing of the past for the modern elite rugby player: a proper pre-season.
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The benefits are obvious. Smith is robustly strong. His pace is right up there at his top end. He is fresh and has the energy he needs to play with the intensity and efficiency that is his trademark.
One play early in Friday night's 34-16 victory over the Blues at Eden Park (the Highlanders' fifth from seven matches this season) encapsulated the upside of that Smith downtime. Landers No 10 Lima Sopoaga had hoisted a bomb that, nine times out of 10, falls into enemy hands and is safely defused.
But Smith jetted through on to the Garryowen, timed his challenge on Stephen Perofeta perfectly and nudged the ball free to create a half-chance that centre Rob Thompson very nearly turned into a try. It was 100 percent hustle by a player with the juice in his tank to make it happen.
"I've actually felt really good," Smith tells Stuff afterwards of his post-sabbatical return. "I got enough time away from the game without missing out on training. I managed a bit of a pre-season, and really enjoyed that and being involved with the team again.
"Probably just taking a bit of time out showed me how much I love the game and how much I enjoy the team environment. I got a bit of that through the pre-season. We worked pretty hard then and that set me up well to start Super Rugby."
You can say that again. Smith, looking as fresh as the proverbial daisy after his Friday outing, puts his sharp form down unequivocally to that pre-season conditioning he had the time to undertake.
"I knew it wasn't going to be easy getting straight back into it, but I thought if I gave myself the best preparation, then I'd give myself the best chance. There's still a lot to work on, but I'm enjoying getting out there on Saturday and playing the game, because it's an awesome buzz, and I especially missed that."
Smith is reluctant to talk tangible benefits of his time off, but is happy to give a general steer.
"I think I'd be up there," he says of his speed and fitness levels. "And I'm mentally fresh, just taking a wee bit of time to spend with my family, and getting to do things I normally wouldn't get to do. Then being able to get some training in has really set me up nicely."
It's different training too, as he explains. "You're able to take the time to get your base fitness up, without having to concentrate on a game. You can be quite wrecked on Friday and it doesn't matter. You have Saturday and Sunday to recover, then do it all again Monday .... the All Blacks boys coming straight back into games don't get that chance."
Of course this was always part of the plan when Smith decided to turn down those eye-wateringly tempting offers from France and recommit to New Zealand rugby. The new contract was signed with this very provision as one of its juiciest clauses.
"My plan was to refresh. I was getting quite a few niggles last year, and it's probably worked out pretty well with the timing. It meant when I got back into it I was able to put a bit of time back into me and my body."
At a time when the Blues have 19 players on their injured list and the Chiefs are also approaching that number, you put it to Smith that the 10-month season simply cannot continue if rugby is serious about providing a world-class product to the paying fans.
"It probably could be looked at, but that's for someone higher up than me," he says, diplomatically. "But yes, I think so."
Of course, any time you step away from the All Blacks environment and give someone else a chance, you take a risk. But Smith believes it was "a gamble I had to take ... we'll see how it goes".
On the subject, Smith also lets us in on a bit of a secret around his namesake and national team-mate Aaron Smith whose form has also been ultra sharp through the first few months of Super Rugby.
"He spent December and January not resting on his laurels too much. He actually did a wee bit more work than maybe he has in the past, and that's set him up really well coming back into the Highlanders. It's energised him."
One way or another, it is exceedingly clear that at the top level of this combative sport, the work you put in beforehand nets the right results in the aftermath.
- Sunday Star Times
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/103298566/fresh-fit-and-firing-abs-star-ben-smith-shows-benefits-of-a-welltimed-break
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