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Aaron Smith won't be joining the All Blacks over in Australia

(Photo by Getty Images)

New Zealand Rugby have confirmed that Test centurion scrum-half Aaron Smith won’t be joining up with the All Blacks in Australia for the remainder of the Rugby Championship. The 32-year-old was the starting No9 last month when Ian Foster’s side defeated the Wallabies 57-22 in Auckland.

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It was thought that the half-back would eventually link up with the All Blacks this month having missed their recent matches in Perth versus Australia and on the Gold Coast last weekend against Argentina.

However, the NZR have now confirmed that Smith will not be joining them in Queensland for their remaining three matches, this Saturday rematch versus the Pumas and the following two games against the world champion Springboks.

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Who was the best performer for the All Blacks last Sunday versus Argentina?

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Who was the best performer for the All Blacks last Sunday versus Argentina?

Smith is now also doubtful for the October clashes with the USA in Washington and Wales in Cardiff, as well as the November games versus Italy, Ireland and France which will respectively take place in Rome, Dublin and Paris.  

An All Blacks statement read: “Aaron Smith won’t be joining the All Blacks in Australia for the Rugby Championship. The 32-year-old Smith has stayed in New Zealand to be with his family awaiting the birth of his second child. He will join his Manawatu Turbos team this week to train and play in the NPC this season.

“Smith said the increasing unlikelihood of getting an MIQ spot to return to New Zealand for the birth was the reason for staying in New Zealand. His baby isn’t due until November but he said he didn’t want to risk not being here for the birth.”

Smith explained: “There is a silver lining here about not being with the All Blacks. I’m only five games short of 50 for the Turbos and I’m excited about hopefully making that milestone. The door isn’t completely closed to me joining the All Blacks for the northern tour if our baby comes early. In this environment anything can happen so I have got an open mind.  At the moment, though, I just want to focus on being here with my family and enjoying that time and playing for Manawatu. I can’t wait to get the boots on again.”

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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