All Black shows off freakish strength for player his size
Squatting, benching or deadlifting heavy is pointless for a No9 if they do not have any explosive strength. That is the case for most backs, but No9s need to be particularly explosive as most of their play is about explosive runs around the breakdown.
Aaron Smith showed recently that he has his fair share of explosive strength in the gym. In fact, he showed that he has more than his fair share given the fact that he is only 83kg. The 114-cap All Black shared a video of himself cleaning 120kg, which is almost 40kg over his bodyweight. That is quite a feat of strength.
Highlanders fans will hope that Smith did not do himself any harm in his lift attempts (seeing as he did fail once), as he is in line to start against Super Rugby Pacific high flyers the Chiefs on Friday at the Forsyth Barr Stadium. The Chiefs are yet to lose a match this season, while the Highlanders have only won three from nine, meaning they will need their halfback to be on the top of his game. Then again, he may be able to unleash some of this newfound strength on them.
Take a look at Smith’s exploits in the gym:
Always a big fan of doing something that scares you daily.
120kg clean big for me! Really got my heart racing 🤗 pic.twitter.com/GILLEeCYlQ
— Aaron Smith (@Te_Nug) May 4, 2023
Highlanders XV
1. Ethan de Groot
2. Andrew Makalio
3. Jermaine Ainsley
4. Fabian Holland
5. Will Tucker
6. Shannon Frizell
7. Billy Harmon (C)
8. Hugh Renton
9. Aaron Smith
10. Freddie Burns
11. Scott Gregory
12. Thomas Umaga-Jensen
13. Fetuli Paea
14. Connor Garden-Bachop
15. Sam Gilbert
Replacements
16. Rhys Marshall
17. Daniel Lienert-Brown
18. Saula Ma’u
19. Josh Dickson
20. Sean Withy
21. Folau Fakatava
22. Mitch Hunt
23. Jona Nareki
