Ben Smith (rugby union)

Ben Smith

Smith in 2015
Full name	Benjamin Robert Smith
Date of birth	(1986-06-01) 1 June 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth	Dunedin, New Zealand
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	93 kg (205 lb; 14 st 9 lb)
School	King's High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fullback, Wing, Centre Current team Otago, Kobelco Steelers Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2007– Otago 44 (55) 2009–2019 Highlanders 153 (200) 2019–2020 Pau 6 (0) 2021–2022 Kobelco Steelers 8 (0) Correct as of 10 August 2019 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2007 New Zealand U21 1 (5) 2009–2019 New Zealand 84 (195) Correct as of 1 November 2019 National sevens team Years Team Comps 2010 New Zealand 1 Correct as of 10 August 2019
Medal record Men's rugby sevens Representing  New Zealand Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Team

Benjamin Robert Smith (born 1 June 1986) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player, currently working for Super Rugby side Highlanders' management team. He formerly played for the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition, Otago in the ITM Cup, Pau in the Top 14 and Kobelco Steelers in the Japan Rugby League One.

Smith made his international debut for New Zealand in 2009, playing 84 tests from then until the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He was a key member of the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning team. Smith was vice-captain of the All Blacks from 2016 to 2017 and captained the team once, against Samoa in 2017. He scored 39 tries for New Zealand throughout his international career, placing him amongst the all-time leading try scorers.^[1]

He normally played as an outside back, but has also previously played as a centre and halfback.^[2][3]

Smith holds the international record (tied with seven English) of winning 14 games in a season, he was the only All Blacks player to play every match of 2013 in which all games were won, a very rare perfect season.