Former All Black Ben Smith embraces World Rugby's aerial contest rule and says: ‘It’s a trained skill’
Friday, 30 January 2026
The All Blacks struggled under high ball last year.
Highlanders have made it a focus - and one new recruit is standing out.
Smith was an aerial expert - a skillset that has been lost in NZ rugby.
Former All Blacks fullback/winger Ben Smith has wholeheartedly embraced World Rugby’s crackdown on escort runners and has challenged back-three players to view aerial contests as their “set-piece”.
The All Blacks struggled under the high ball last year, prompting some grumbles about World Rugby’s approach, but Smith has taken the opposite attitude in his role as Highlanders assistant coach.
“I really like that part of the game,” Smith said. “They’ve opened it up and they've made that challenge in the air sort of 50-50 around being able to compete and go after that.
“The forwards do a lot of scrummaging and that's their set-piece and now for the backs the high ball and getting after that, that's sort of our set-piece.
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“If you can do that really well then I reckon it sets up your game to be able to attack off the back of it.”
World Rugby introduced the new directive to penalise escort runners just before the November tests in 2024, and the All Blacks failed to adapt as quickly as rival nations such as South Africa, Argentina and England.
Axed All Blacks coach Scott Robertson was on the lookout for some high-ball coaching expertise before NZ Rugby brought down the curtain on his two-year tenure, and it appears that New Zealand teams will take a more pragmatic approach to the aerial battle in this year’s Super Rugby Pacific.
“That's been a big part of the pre-season around really getting confident in the air,” Smith said of the Highlanders’ philosophy.
“It's a trained skill. It's a hard one because you want to make sure that you're getting quite a few reps, especially live reps … when you've got to fully commit to those high balls.
“So, that's been a bit of a balance over the last few weeks around how much we actually go up in the air, but it's a trained skill that we're going to have to be really good at.”
Smith was a master under high ball during his decorated All Blacks career - his bravery played as much of a role as technique - and he commended the attitude he was seeing among the Highlanders.
But there was one player who had particularly caught his eye - new recruit Xavier Tito-Harris, the Auckland winger who is yet another product of the NZ Sevens program.
“Xavier’s vertical hops are some of the highest in our team,” Smith said.
“So someone like that, and Caleb {Tangitau], those kind of guys…what they're able to do is pretty exciting for us going forward in the competition.”
Tito-Harris and Tangitau have both been named in the Highlanders’ first-half team to take on the Crusaders in the opening preseason game on Friday, with Josh Whaanga and Stanley Solomon on the wings in the second 40 minutes.
The Highlanders also have Jona Nareki coming off a very strong NPC campaign for Otago, but it appears that aerial ability will be a big factor in selection this season.
Highlanders v Crusaders, Timaru, Friday 3.30pm
Highlanders (first half): Stanley Solomon, Caleb Tangitau, Tanielu Tele’a, Meihana Grindlay, Xavier Tito-Harris, Cameron Millar, Adam Lennox; Will Stodart (capt), Lucas Casey, Oliver Haig, Tomas Lavanini, Tai Cribb, Sefo Kautai, Soane Vikena, Josh Bartlett.
Highlanders (second half): Taine Robinson, Stanley Solomon, Jonah Lowe, Tayne Harvey, Josh Whaanga, Reesjan Pasitoa, Nic Shearer; Nikora Broughton, Veveni Lasaqa, Te Kamaka Howden, Tai Cribb, Josh Tengblad, Angus Ta’avao, Jack Taylor (capt), Rohan Wingham. Reserve: Henry Bell.