Aaron Smith and coach Ian Foster during an All Blacks training session. Photo / Photosport
Aaron Smith and coach Ian Foster during an All Blacks training session. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
Amid the gloom that has descended across the New Zealand rugby landscape in the wake of a third All Blacks loss to Ireland, there are beacons shimmering through the gloaming.
The brightest light of all is the possible return to action of Aaron Smith who could, should he berestored to the All Blacks starting lineup this week in Paris, have a transformational impact.
It's probable the All Blacks will make a handful of personnel changes this week as they try to rekindle their mental energy after 13 weeks on the road.
Dane Coles could return at hooker, Akira Ioane on the blindside, Sam Cane at openside, Quinn Tupaea at second-five and maybe even Braydon Ennor on the left wing.
But bringing back Smith to start at halfback could be the real game-changer, the one single selection that enables the All Blacks to go from bungling to bustling and maybe not fix all that is not right with their game, but certainly deliver a more convincing performance and at least tone down this sense they could be fundamentally broken.
The All Blacks were determined to get through the Rugby Championship and Northern Tour without Smith's absence being notable.
But it hasn't happened and there's simply no getting away from the fact that the All Blacks are one team when Smith plays and another when he doesn't.
The All Blacks need him back. He hasn't played a test since August, only arrived in Europe late last week and yet no one would consider it an unjustifiable risk to thrust him into the No 9 jersey against France.
Aaron Smith and coach Ian Foster during an All Blacks training session. Photo / Photosport
In fact, there may be a stronger argument to make that it would be an unjustifiable risk to not thrust Smith back into the team because a lack of speed, accuracy and astute decision-making from halfback was at the heart of the All Blacks problems in Dublin.
Plenty of All Blacks didn't play well but no one appeared more laboured or stilted than TJ Perenara who wasn't so much indecisive as just painfully slow at times to pick his pass and assess his options.
He's had the lion's share of this year's big tests to establish his credentials as a genuine, international class halfback and it would be hard to argue that he's done that.
If anything, he's created more doubt than certainty about whether he's in possession of the skill-set the All Blacks need from their halfback.
He's a phenomenal competitor and natural leader – both qualities evident in the way he defended so well and influentially in Dublin.
But the All Blacks can't justify picking their halfback based on their defensive strength and in the core business of thinking fast, passing swiftly and accurately and generating a high tempo flow, Perenara has been found wanting in 2021.
The All Blacks have a non-negotiable requirement for all their number nines in terms of the pace they have to be able to play at.
Perenara took himself off to Japan this year, hoping that a season there would help him speed up his game.
TJ Perenara. Photo / Photosport
There have been times this year when he's looked sharper and clearer than he's previously been, but in the crunch games against South Africa and Ireland, he regressed and his service was often slow and inaccurate and didn't facilitate the All Blacks building continuity and momentum.
Speed is not just physical, it applies to the mental side of the role too and it's maybe here where Perenara trails furthest behind. He's a player who needs to conduct a due diligence process at every ruck to determine the best option, whereas Smith tends to have calculated all that long before he arrives at the ball.
Perenara also made the ill-advised decision to tap a penalty under his posts after a prolonged period of brilliant defence had held Ireland out and won the ball back.
It was a wild moment from a player who has almost 80 caps and deepened the impression that for all Perenara's tenacity and sheer will to make his presence felt, he's not a great reader of the game or blessed with the same natural instincts as Smith.
The difference between Smith and Perenara is not just that the former is the best passer in the world game, it's the clarity which he brings to his work.
Smith has learned the art of not overthinking his options. He gets to the ball, puts his hands on it and passes and the speed at which he does that is a major factor in the All Blacks getting behind defences.
With Smith on the park, the All Blacks don't give defenders time to settle or re-set and even if he only has 45 minutes in his legs given his lack of game time, mostly everyone would support him starting in Paris before making way for Brad Weber.
