26

// NZ RUGBY WORLD // JUNE/JULY 2015

B

igger is not always better. Rugby,

to an extent, remains a game for

all shapes and sizes. The power

game is not all conquering. Nearly,

but not quite and for that blessing, thank

the remarkable contingent of Smiths who

have become more than just invaluable

All Black weaponry.

The Smiths are living proof that test

football has not become the exclusive

domain of the collision kings.

Most coaches in the professional game

are obsessed with explosive power. Just as

Wallis Simpson was certain no one could

be too thin or too rich, modern coaches are

seemingly of the view that no player can

be too big.

At times, rugby can look like some kind

of grotesque science experiment where

creatures have been modiﬁed in

laboratories with bits stuck on where

they shouldn’t have been. With a similar

mindset to the American hospitality

industry, rugby has come to confuse big

for good.

Quantity of player is typically valued

ahead of quality and in time the whole

business of selection might begin with the

genetic screening of early-stage teenagers.

Look around Super Rugby and the

European Championship for that matter

and it’s not that uncommon to ﬁnd backs

who are in excess of 110kg. Think Robbie

Fruean, Nemani Nadolo, Sonny Bill

Williams, Ma’a Nonu, George North,

Manu Tuilagi and Tim Visser. It would

be unjust to label this group as one

dimensional but the part of their

respective portfolios that most excites the

coaching fraternity is their ability to run

over the top of defenders.

If in doubt smash it up has become the

global coaching mantra of choice. The

power athlete is similar to the oversized

racquet head in tennis: that giant sweet

spot can hide a multitude of technical sins

just as a direct linebreaker can probably

play for years without developing much in

the way of footwork or distribution.

There’s so little space on the ﬁeld that

most teams begin the process of creating

it with a collision. In fact, most teams

plan for multiple hit ups using their

biggest men.

Owning the contact has been deemed to

be a critical battle and therefore selections

in many teams exclusively reﬂect that.

The thunderous nature of the contest

can be compelling. There is a fascination

to watching irresistible force meeting

immovable object and rugby can

occasionally hold its audience on the

basis of its physicality alone.

Yet there’s also this undeniable feeling

that the code is selling itself short with

such a preponderance of oversized, direct

athletes chosen more for their destructive

value than their subtlety.

The essence of rugby is that among the

mayhem, there is strategy: there is room

FAST GAME GOOD

GAME

The arrival of Aaron

Smith has allowed the

All Blacks to play at an

incredible tempo.

[ the smiths ]