Rugby World Cup 2019: How a magnificent Aaron Smith set the tempo for New Zealand’s quarter-final dismantling of Ireland

Analysis: The scrum-half was superb as the All Blacks dominated Ireland in Tokyo

Perhaps we should have seen this coming. New Zealand remain the best team in the some distance, capable of accelerating to a different speed to the rest of the rugby playing world, of finding a gear no-one else can access.

Yet, still, we doubted them. There was a sense that this was not the unconquerable side of years past, that there was an underlying vulnerability to Steve Hansen’s side. It had been exposed previously, twice by Ireland, of course. During the Rugby Championship an early red card allowed Australia a rout; South Africa frustrated and stagnated and secured a draw. Their summer preparations were not perfect. But when the big match World Cup lights came on, with the opportunity to right the wrongs of those two defeats against a familiar foe, there were simply outstanding.

This was a different New Zealand. If you could accuse them of a lack of intensity in those defeats in Chicago and in Dublin, they were positively overflowing with purpose here. They had been caught cold by an Irish team twice, out-muscled and out-worked on both occasions – there were not going to be in Tokyo.

The All Blacks did not miss a tackle in the first half-an-hour, and just one in the entire first half, and played with remarkable speed and intensity in both attack and defence.

Ireland did not help themselves, either. A common criticism of this side is their monotonous, one-track rugby, with little invention to their attacking play and no clear plan B should the opposition gain forward parity, or, even worse, ascendancy.

It was evident here. Their attempts to work backs moves were inaccurate and slow, and they were too often forced to kick the ball away in their attempts to get any kind of go forward. New Zealand were prepared for the high bombs, and defused them.

Where Ireland had managed to dominate up front in Chicago and Dublin, here they were on the back foot from early on. The return of Brodie Retallick, the premier lock in rugby, meant New Zealand’s eight was at full strength for the first time all tournament. In Nepo Laulala, Sam Whitelock, Sam Cane and Retallick they possess four of the most punishing tacklers at the World Cup – Ireland’s attempts to foray around the fringes found uncomfortable homes.

There is little left to write about the All Blacks attack that has not been written before. The speed of their rugby is remarkable, and they play with the joyful expression that comes only by being born with a ball in your hands and an understanding of how to execute a two-on-one.

Their ability to regenerate is absurd, the strength-in-depth obscene. This is a very different side to the one that lifted the trophy four years ago, and one that only settled on their preferred combinations this summer, with Ardie Savea and Sam Cane destructive flankers operating in tandem, and Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett parallel creators par excellence, but it looks like they have been doing this for years, with incredible chemistry and understanding.

New Zealand’s phase play is incredible: the speed of ball, the variety of attacking options, the intensity of carries, the work-rate of the tight five. All 23 members of the squad are capable ball-handlers, able to challenge defences in different manners.

Perhaps their greatest quality is their ability to shift the point of contact, and keep movements going. They are rugby’s version of the hydra – chop down one carrier and two more pop up, ready for the offload. Invariably it comes, and, almost inevitably, it goes to hand.

None of that would be possible without Aaron Smith.

Smith has been doubted since the last World Cup. He had issues with form, playing in a Highlanders side domestically that hasn’t always fired, and off-field controversy, too. It has been argued that the fervent intensity and defensive steel of TJ Perenara might be preferable as the starting nine.

But Perenara is not the passer that Smith is, and to play such an up-tempo game they need accuracy and pace from the base of the ruck. Much has been made of Mo’unga and Barrett’s development as a pair, but Smith is the metronome that keeps this side ticking.

His speed of pass and release from the floor enables New Zealand to shift the ball wide quicker than any side. There is no false-stepping around the base, just efficient distribution. His first receiver can stand a channel wider in the line, enabling them to get to the outside shoulder more often. Smith’s sharpness allows his carriers to come on to the ball at pace, not consider their step or have to adjust for a misplaced pass. That means they win the collision more often than not, giving further front-foot ball with which Smith can work.

New Zealand celebrate Smith’s superb second score (Getty)

Codie Taylor’s try early in the second half is the perfect example of what such an accurate and incisive passer provides. Smith has three options as he picks up at the base, including two adjacent runners virtually at the line in Joe Moody and Kieran Read.

There should not be space for Smith to fit the ball across the face of Moody and into the hands of Read, but he gets it there, a laser along the line to put his captain into a half-hole. Iain Henderson is wrong-footed, preparing himself for a rumble from Moody. On his back foot he slipped down to the hips of Read, not managing to wrap up the ball in the two-man tackle with Tadhg Furlong going low. That allowed Read to get his arms free, and, of course, offload to Taylor in support.

The tries were almost secondary to Smith’s performance, a tour de force from a player truly asserting himself as the world’s best scrum-half once more. New Zealand might have five or six that would get in a composite world fifteen, but no-one is more important to this side than Smith, the tempo and tone-setter.

New Zealand dismantled Ireland, just as they did France at this stage four years ago. It was 62-13 on that occasion; 46-14 on this. This was a showing to put the rest of the tournament on notice – the All Blacks are back to their best.

New Zealand are here, and if they reproduce this performance in the semi-final and final, no-one is going to stop them retaining their crown.