Legendary All Blacks full-back Ben Smith has weighed in on World Rugby’s law tweak that removed escorts.
During his illustrious career, which included a Rugby World Cup title and over 80 Test caps for New Zealand, Smith was renowned for his brilliance under the high ball.
It’s a skillset that he hopes to pass on to the next generation through his work with Super Rugby Pacific club, the Highlanders.
A player’s ability under the high ball is particularly important since World Rugby outlawed escorts, which made it easier for a receiving catcher to secure possession and has created more of a contest for the ball.
Ben Smith on the removal of the escorts
The tweak has proved to be quite polarising, with Springboks coaches coming in strong support of the change with regard to player safety and the impact it has had on the flow of the game.
However, it hasn’t been welcomed as positively in the north, with Tadhg Beirne criticising the law change, echoing the sentiments of Munster assistant coach Mike Prendergast.
Speaking ahead of the Highlanders’ pre-season hit-out against the Crusaders, Smith agrees with the Bok coaches.
“I really like that part of the game that they’ve opened that up,” the 39-year-old said.
“They’ve made that challenge in the air a 50/50 around being able to compete and go after that.”
The Highlanders legend, turned assistant coach, likens it to a set-piece for the backline players and says that it has been a real focus point for the team in pre-season.
The All Blacks struggled to adapt to the law change last year, and Smith aims to make sure the Super Rugby doesn’t fall victim to the tweak but instead use it as a weapon.
“I suppose forwards do a lot of scrummaging and that’s their set-piece and now for the backs, I suppose around the high ball and getting after that is sort of our set-piece around going after the high ball and if you can do that really well, then I reckon it sets up your game to be able to attack off the back of it,” he added.
“It’s been a big part of the pre-season around really getting confident in the air, around what we want to go after.”
Highlanders’ wingers backed to shine
He also believes that it is a trained skill that players can learn to improve but says that it requires live, in-game reps and bravery.
“It’s a trained skill, and it’s a hard one because you want to make sure that you’re getting quite a few reps in. Especially live reps, where it’s a lot different. You’ve actually got to fully commit to those high balls,” he said.
“That’s been a bit of a balance over the last few weeks around how much we actually go up in the air, but going forward, it’s a trained skill that we’re going to have to be really good at.”
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Looking at the Highlanders’ squad, Smith singled out Xavier Tito-Harris and Caleb Tangitau as two players he expects to thrive under the high ball this season, with the former producing standout testing statistics.
“I’ve been really impressed with our wingers in that area around the high ball, being able to get up and compete,” he said.
“I suppose it’s being able to fully commit and not being afraid, the way that it is at the minute, you’ll get some wrong, but it’s being able to commit in that area.
“Someone like Xavier has the highest vertical hops in our team, and someone like Caleb too. What those guys are able to do is pretty exciting for us.”