apart from the fact Ben Smith I believe is currently the Form player in the NZ game right now the reason I think he's awesome and also the reason I think he has become such a cult hero is that he is the perfect example of an old style great. He's the one player in the current all blacks that wouldn't look out of place walking off the field with Colin Meads and Willson Winery
He could be just some random otago lad and good all round bloke, nothing fancy to look at, no fancy haircut or visible tattoos that are all the rage. It just so happens when he puts stubbies and boots on it turns out that hes one of the best rugby players on the planet and has the all round skills only equaled by a very small group of players.
on one side you have the rugby posers like SBW, Nonu, Cory Jane, JOC, Beale. Fancy Haircuts, fancy pants men. On the other side you have Ben Smith.
Kind of a bit like Conrad Smith, but Conrad is more of a solid intelligent and reliable player where Ben Smith has Genuine speed, skill and X factor, and off the field Ben seems even more down to earth and Modest than Conrad.
That's why I think he's become such a cult figure.
He is kinda becoming an established All Black later in his carrier in the modern era with focus being on world cups youth has become a major factor. I think is his ability and class has been known for a long time. I think he was stuck behind Toeava for far too long and even though Ben Smith seemed to be a better player I think Toeava got the nod because of his extra Size and power. hindsight is always 20/20 but it's obvious now that Ben Smith would have been the better option all along and should have been a regular since he made his debut around 2010. back in 2011 I made an argument here I think, that Ben smith should have been in the WC squad ahead of Toeava, both had awesome super seasons but I looked around for various sources for stats and found that even though Toeava had slightly higher stats in terms of attack, Ben Smiths Error rate was tiny, something like 1/3rd Toeava's error rate. Smiths error rate was so low it was staggering considering he had and has one of the highest workrates in the competition.
also is a factor where in NZ the highlanders are the worst team in NZ and arguably the worst in the competition, but Ben Smith has an epic game every single week, breaking tackles, clocking up line breaks, coming up with try saving tackles, chasing kicks like a man on fire. No highlanders game can go for more than a few minutes without the commentators saying his name. he is the most watchable and entertaining player in New Zealand in my opinion. If it wasn't for Ben Smith the Highlanders would probably be a complete embarrassment this season.
