Hansen says yes, but not Umaga
‘It could be a tough ask in a week for a guy who is playing so well to nail it [centre], and when I say so well that’s an understatement for what he’s been doing this season.’
RUGBY
TANA UMAGA is a huge Ben Smith fan, but says the All Blacks coaches are asking a lot of their best back in shifting him to centre for Saturday’s test against Australia.
Smith will start at centre at Forsyth Barr Stadium in place of his namesake Conrad, who has started a scheduled sixmonth sabbatical.
The long-signalled changing of the guard in the midfield is no surprise, but Umaga, who played 74 tests between 1997 and 2005, many of them in the No 13 jersey, said it was probably unfair to expect a completely smooth transition.
‘‘It could be a tough ask in a week for a guy who is playing so well to nail it [centre], and when
Tana Umaga about shifting Ben Smith to centre I say so well that’s an understatement for what he’s been doing this season. Ben Smith has been amazing on the wing,’’ Umaga said yesterday.
‘‘To bring him in closer where I guess you don’t have the open spaces you possibly have out wider and taking on the role that Conrad Smith has, I don’t know if that will suit him.
‘‘I’d hate to think he’ll be thinking all about his defensive role instead of what he’s really good at, which is ball in hand.
‘‘It will be interesting to see how he goes. I wouldn’t put it past him that he can do it because I just think he’s such a gifted footballer, but a week?
‘‘Maybe leading into a tour where he can run through things for a couple of weeks, have a few more trainings might be a better time to trial him out, but there’s probably no perfect time.’’
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has previously expressed similar sentiments when asked about trialling Ben Smith in the midfield.
However, after watching the backs train in Dunedin yesterday, Hansen was confident the time was right and that the team’s preparation time would not be a major issue.
‘‘He’s trained there quite a bit [during the season] because he’s been cover for centre during the [Rugby] Championship. If Conrad had gone off Ben would have gone there and we saw him go to second five in the Argentina test. It’s not as if he’s going in there cold.’’
Smith has played 21 tests, but just one, against Scotland in 2012, at centre.
‘‘There is always the risk of changing someone who is in the form he’s in, but we’ve always said we need to find another centre. Conrad’s been the one and only for a long time and now is the time to do that,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘He’s [Ben Smith] probably the back of the Championship I would have thought, if not the player of the Championship . . . He’s in a rich vein of form and very confident and I would have thought it’s a good time to say right, let’s have a look at this wee project.’’
Umaga, not a bad player himself, started his own test career on the wing before moving in to the midfield and said he had struggled initially at test level in the No 13 role.
‘‘I played pretty much centre at club [for Petone] and then wing for reps [Wellington and the Hurricanes] as a lot of players do. There was an opportunity that came up and I moved in one.
‘‘It took me a little while to come to grips with the intricacies of it. You get away with it at club and to an extent at ITM, but when you are at international level it can be a pretty steep learning curve.’’
Though Hansen has confirmed Smith will play at centre, he’s remaining coy about whether returning wing Cory Jane will start.
Jane has been recalled after just a game and a half for Wellington following his return from a 10-month long recovery from knee surgery.
The 30-year-old’s similar skill set to Smith made him a logical like for like swap, Hansen said.
‘‘Before he was injured he was world class and we expect him to get back there pretty quickly. He wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think he was ready to start.’’