Ben Smith

At 37 years old, Ben Smith has this physical status:

Benjamin Robert Smith (born 1 June 1986) is a New Zealand rugby union player currently representing Pau in the French Top 14.

He competed for the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition and in the ITM Cup's Otago.

Smith made his international debut for New Zealand in 2009, playing 84 tests from then until the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

He was a key member of the 2015 Rugby World Cup winning team.

Smith was vice-captain of the All Blacks from 2016-2017 and captained the team against Samoa in 2017.

He has scored 39 tries for New Zealand throughout his international career, placing him among the all-time top try scorers.

Personal life

In 2015, Smith married Katie Menzies. Their daughter was born in the year 2000 and their second child, Walter Walter was born on September 9, 2017 but Smith was out with concussion but not sure.

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Playing career

Smith, who was born in Dunedin and educated at King's High School, progressed through the junior ranks at his hometown Green Island Rugby Club (The Grizzlies), before making his Air New Zealand Cup debut in 2008. He was one of the top players of the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup, scoring six tries for Otago in en route to being a year-end pick for the New Zealand national team (All Blacks). He failed to make the same impact in the 2010 ITM Cup as Otago's gruesome season and bottom-of-the-table finish, while Smith missed several matches in India while competing in the Commonwealth Games.

Smith was added to the Highlanders squad for the 2009 Super 14 season in 2010, and he scored two tries for the season. He played on the wing and made one start at fullback after Israel Dagg was out injured.

Shifted back to fullback for the 2011 Super Rugby season, earning praise from coach Jamie Joseph and praise for another All Black call-up. He started every Highlander game for the third season in his career and added two more tries to his record. In 2013, he continued as a fullback for the Highlanders and was picked by the All Blacks to play on the wing against France. Smith was named Super Rugby Player of the Year for the 2013 Super Rugby Championships on December 5th.

Smith played his 100th Super Rugby match against the Western Force in May 2015.

Smith played his 127th game for the Highlanders in their Round 15 22-25 loss to the Crusaders, equaling Anton Oliver's record for the most cap Highlander ever. Unfortunately, Smith was forced to leave early in the second half for a concussion test, which was unsuccessful, after tripping over All Blacks teammate Ryan Crotty.

Smith was drafted in the 33-member All Blacks squad for the 2009 Autumn Internationals, ahead of veteran All Black winger Joe Rokocoko. Smith appeared on November 14, 2009, his first test for the All Blacks against Italy was held in San Siro, Milan, where the All Blacks defeated Italy 20–6. In the last game of the tour, the Barbarians defeated the Barbarians 25–18 at Twickenham, London, on December 5th. He scored his first All Blacks match against the Barbarians.

Smith did not make it into the All Black squads in 2010, but he was selected for the rugby sevens squad, which competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, where he helped New Zealand win the gold medalist series.

In 2012, Smith appeared in ten test appearances for the All Blacks, eight of which were off the bench.

He appeared in all three games against France in the French NZ Tour Series in June 2013, on the right wing, with veteran Cory Jane out due to injury. He set up a try to Aaron Smith (in the 32nd minute) and was awarded the man-of-the-match award in the first game of the 3 Test Series at Eden Park, Auckland's Eden Park. In the second game at Christchurch's Rugby League Park on June 15th, he scored a try in the 48th minute of the game. In the 35th minute at New Plymouth's Yarrow Stadium, he scored another in the final game of the 3 Test Series. During this series, Smith will also be a part of what could be a long-running alliance with fullback Israel Dagg.

Smith scored three tries in the All Blacks' 47-29 victory over the Wallabies at ANZ Stadium in August 2013. The All Blacks defeated the Wallabies at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, winning 27–16 and keeping the Bledisloe Cup.

Smith scored two goals against Argentina in La Plata in September 2013.

Smith was awarded with the most tries in a Rugby Championship/Tri Nations series in October 2013, scoring 8 tries in six matches. Smith continued his good form into the end-of-year tests, scoring his 11th test attempt of 2013 against Japan on November 2nd, defeating the Japanese 51-6.

Smith was selected in the mid-year three-test series against England in 2014. Smith was on the right wing of the first test on June 7, 2014, with Julian Savea on the left wing and Israel Dagg at fullback. In the second test on June 14, Dagg was called off in the 54th minute due to sickness, leaving Smith at full speed. Smith won in the second test of the series, a narrow 28-27 victory, despite a try-saving tackle on English winger Manu Tuilagi and scoring a try in the 43rd minute.

Smith made a full comeback in six of his 12 appearances for the All Blacks in 2014, with Dagg struggling with a persistent injury.

He was announced as one of the 31 New Zealand Rugby World Cup team's 31 players on August 30, 2015. Smith was the only fullback in the squad, with Cory Jane and Israel Dagg omitted for Smith's Highlanders colleague Waisa Naholo.

Smith was involved in all seven of New Zealand's games at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, starting as fullback in all but one match (against Namibia, where he was suspended on for Colin Slade). He scored two attempts in the competition, one against Namibia in their second pool match and another against Tonga in their final pool match. He was named Man of the Match for his efforts in the semi-final against South Africa, which was decided by a slim 20–18 margin.

He was yellow carded for a tip tackle in the final against Australia, making him the first player to be credited with a card in a Rugby World Cup Final. He returned to the field to lead the All Blacks to a 34–17 victory, as well as the first team to win three Rugby World Cups. Beauden Barrett was on the field for the first time ever to play back-to-back titles, as well as the first to win three Rugby World Cups.

Richie McCaw's captain, Dan Carter, Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, All Black captain Richie McCaw, was named as the vice-captain of the All Blacks in 2016, after his international or complete departures of captain Richie McCaw, Manu Maw, all Black captain Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith, Keven Mealamu, All Blacks vice-captain Conrad Smith, Meal

Smith was named vice captain of Wales on June 11, 2016, the All Blacks defeated Wales 39-21 in the first of the three-test series between the two nations. Smith was named Man of the Match for the first test of the season, but not subbed off. Smith was moved to right wing for the second test against Wales in order to compensate Israel Dagg, who had recovered from injury. Smith and Dagg's 50th test was conducted on June 18, 2016, with both players scoring tries. Smith was errorless in the second test, with the exception of allowing Welsh lock Alun Wyn Jones to try, but the Man of the Match was not awarded for the second week in a row, denying the honour to Dagg. Smith scored the first try of the third test on June 25, 2016 and concluded the series without being subbed off from the field, with the All Blacks thrashing Wales 46–6 to end the series.

Smith was pushed back for full action in the second round of the 2016 Rugby Championship, with Dagg on the right wing. This will be the re-established pairing between the two players, with Smith retaining his spot as the All Blacks' first-choice fullback. Both players ended up finishing as the best try scorers in the tournament, with both having scored 5 tries in total, with two of the six matches of the competition each. Smith's most notable appearance in the tournament was on September 10, 2016, where he scored two tries against Argentina during a 57–22 victory. Smith was not subbed off during the Rugby Championship, but his and Dagg's performances were overshadowed by Beauden Barrett, the All Blacks' new first-choice first-five-eighth who scored 81 points in the tournament.

Ben Smith provided cover at halfback during the 2016 match against Ireland, while Aaron Smith was sin binned in the first half of the match. Smith was forced to miss the game due to a fractured finger, snapping him out of the game, bringing an end to his international career. Waisa Ka Naholo was injured. Smith had 8 attempts over the year, third to highest for the All Blacks behind new fly-half Beauden Barrett and Israel Dagg (the highest two international scorers for the year).

Smith, the 68th captain of the All Blacks in the absence of Kieran Read during Super Rugby, went from a concussion suffered during Super Rugby to lead the All Blacks against Samoa at Eden Park on June 16th as a warm-up for the three-test series against the touring British & Irish Lions team. In the 63rd minute, Smith was subbed off for debutant Jordie Barrett, with lock Brodie Retallick taking over as captain for the remainder of the test, which ended in a 78–0 win over Samoa.

Smith was expected to start at full speed in the first test of the historic series against the Lions on June 24, 2017, but only lasted 21 minutes before suffering what seemed to be his third concussion in the space of three months. When the All Blacks defeated the Lions 30-15 without Smith on the field, Smith was replaced by veteran first-five Aaron Cruden, with Beauden Barrett shifting to fullback and Israel Dagg remaining on the right wing. In the second and third tests, Smith will be Smith's only ever game against the Lions, with Waisake Naholo, Jordie Barrett, and Julian Savea deputising for him. Smith was sorely missed during the series, as the Lions lost a string of records to bring the series 1-1 with the All Blacks.

Smith revealed that his vertigo was not a sign of concussion signs but rather due to an inner ear infection. The second Bledisloe Cup test of 2017 confirmed that he would take a sabbatical from all forms of rugby.

Smith was selected in the 2017 Rugby Championship squad for the Blacks, but he would begin his sabattical after the second Bledisloe Cup test. Smith scored in both Bledisloe Cup tests against the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship, marking yet another career milestone for the right wing (rookie Damian McKenzie was used at fullback) as Smith attempted his 30th test for the All Blacks on August 26, 2017, which the All Blacks defeated the Wallabies 31-29. Following the conclusion of this experiment, Beauden Barrett was named as the All Blacks vice-captain in Smith's absence.

Smith returned to international rugby after the 2018 Super Rugby season, scoring four tries out of 12 tests. Smith scored his 30th attempt for New Zealand on June 9th in a 52–11 victory over France, putting him among the all-time top try-scoring champions globally.

Smith was again shifted to his desired position at fullback in New Zealand's first test of 2019, with 20-16 victories over Argentina, with Damian McKenzie not considered for selection due to injury. Smith was at full speed in the first two tests of the 2019 Rugby Championship, but New Zealand lost by 268-47, with Smith losing Scott Barrett to a red card.

Smith, as well as fellow poor-performing veterans Owen Franks and Rieko Ioane, were dropped from the match-day 23 entirely, with Beauden Barrett replacing Smith as New Zealand's first-choice fullback, while rookie wingers George Bridge and Sevu Reece were unable to begin. Although Barrett had overtaken Smith in the pecking order, Smith was scheduled to start in his final home game in New Zealand, a 92–7 victory over Tonga, with two tries in the game, but with far better results.

Although there were calls from the media for Smith's removal, he was selected by All Black Head Coach Steve Hansen for his second World Cup as one of 31 players in New Zealand's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. In all three tests during the World Cup, he appeared as a replacement on the bench and starting at full throttle against Namibia in a 71–9 victory, scoring two tries in the process.

Smith was not selected for the World Cup quarter-final victory over Ireland or England's semi-final defeat, having been defeated by Sevu Reece and Beauden Barrett. With New Zealand's exit from the tournament, Hansen decided to give Smith, as well as fellow retired players Kieran Read, Matt Todd, Sonny Bill Williams, and Ryan Crotty their final test in the Bronze Final against Wales. Smith had a good showing against Wales, with two tries in the final, beating New Zealand 40-17 for third place in the 2019 World Cup.

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