Aaron Smith: How it is more difficult for modern day scrum-halves and why Antoine Dupont ‘changed the game’
Aaron Smith and Antoine Dupont head-to-head at 2023 Rugby World Cup, and Cam Roigard being tackled by Grant Williams during Springboks v All Blacks.
Legendary All Black Aaron Smith believes that it is becoming increasingly difficult for current Test scrum-halves due to the “s***fight” at the breakdown.
The 37-year-old is still playing the game for Toyota Verblitz in Japan but his days at the highest level appear to be over.
Smith last featured for the All Blacks in 2023 when he started the Rugby World Cup final against the Springboks.
He has seen how the sport has changed over the years and believes that the continued improvement in defences has made it tougher for the half-backs.
Smith rarely looked to snipe
“The way we played for eight years of my career was very much… move the ball. We had such great backs and generals of the game, it suited the way I played,” he told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“Get there, clear the ball as fast as I could. I wasn’t really looking to run, I was just listening and trying to move the ball as quickly as possible.
“I think the game now defences are so good. The defences have more width in there, the general defence structures, and they know how to slow the ball down.
“That maybe wasn’t something that was as prevalent in my early All Blacks career. If you put a bit of footwork into a one-on-one, that ruck is maybe one guy cleans and it’s gone.
“Now it’s one low, one high, a bit of a s***fight and that’s maybe 1.5 second ball, not one second and gone.”
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Some of the new breed of scrum-halves combine that speed of ball with physicality and a sniping instinct around the breakdown.
Antoine Dupont and New Zealand’s Cam Roigard are considered to be the best in the world in the position, and they both have that ability to impact matters at close quarters.
“It’s good to see the more combative half-backs back but, like I said, defences are just way better. The homework and analytics around it, the knowledge of team structures, it’s just way better and a lore more focused,” Smith said.
“Then you’ve got guys like Dupont coming along and just change the game, and then everyone’s seen that as well.”
Springboks’ scrum-half struggles
Roigard very much got the better of the Springboks duo at the weekend, Grant Williams and Cobus Reinach, who struggled in the 33-16 defeat.
To compound matters, Reinach was sin-binned in the final quarter for a deliberate knock-on and that enabled the All Blacks to ease to victory in the final 10 minutes.
“Grant Williams probably didn’t have his best day but, man, he actually looked pretty good on the wing,” Smith added.
“Reinach got sin-binned the poor bugger but I wouldn’t have let Roigard score there either! If he got the ball there, he’s scoring. It’s a two-on-one with a winger and Cam’s just going to dummy and dive over.”
