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Hearts in mouths for All Blacks fans as fullback Ben Smith goes down

Ben Smith limps from the field after suffering an injury against the Chiefs. (Photo by Dianne Manson/Getty Images)

Last night’s 31-all draw in Dunedin thrilled many New Zealand fans until All Black fullback Ben Smith went down with what looked like a serious knee injury with just five minutes to go in the match.

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Smith fell awkwardly into a tackle after losing his footing on the surface, before being bent backward into a compromising position. His reaction gave no relief as he displayed his discomfort.

https://twitter.com/Filiti2/status/1124603501017886720

After the match head coach Aaron Mauger was aware of a cut to his chin in the collision with Jacobson but believed Smith suffered a hamstring strain.

“He’s got a hamstring strain, and also got a laceration on his chin, so he’s just getting stitched up at the moment,” a disappointed Mauger told RugbyPass.

“We’ll know a bit more in the next couple of days.”

The scare comes after dual first-five fullback Damian McKenzie ruptured his ACL a few weeks, ruling him out of the World Cup and leaving the All Blacks short on depth in two key positions. A serious injury to Smith would all but cause a crisis for the team at fullback, with Jordie Barrett, David Havili and even Will Jordan firming to be starting options.

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Smith was influential in building the Highlanders 28-12 lead before a late Chiefs comeback saw the match drawn at 31-all.

Ben Smith interview ahead of Chiefs:

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Nickers 35 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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