Brendan Gallagher comment: Sublime Conrad Smith has a five-star lawyer’s brain and he can hit too

Richie McCaw and Dan Carter deserve every plaudit that comes their way – the golden duo have redefined their positions and rewritten the records book in recent years.
But I was raising my glass to Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu last night. Between them, in my opinion, they damn near stole they show.
Smith, right, is an extraordinary player, arguably the most successful in Test history.
In 94 Tests he has only lost nine games and his win percentage (89.89) is actually marginally higher than both McCaw and Carter.
He doesn't seek or hog the limelight but Smith has all the skills and all the durability and physical courage that you would expect from an All Black.
He can score tries – 26 in total – and he probably has treble that in assists but his value should never be measured in mere statistics.
Smith has a five-star lawyer's brain – his chosen profession – and for a long time now he has provided much of the rugby intelligence in a succession of high-octane New Zealand back divisions, his computer like brain working it all out and effortlessly distilling the information.
He doesn't make a fuss about it, takes no credit, but we have seen it every time he has donned the black jersey.
A decade of New Zealand back-three players owe a huge debt to Smith, as does Nonu who immediately became twice the player under his tutelage.
Two moments from Smith stood out for me yesterday.
The first was in the opening minute virtually when he rocked Michael Hooper back with a shuddering tackle which made you wince 60 yards away in the stands.
As Hooper picked himself up he shook his head, both in disbelief and to clear the senses. He hadn't been ‘hit' like that in a long while.
And, secondly, that utterly sublime inside line and pass to create that try for Nehe Milner-Skudder just before half-time. It was rugby perfection.
One tweeter SJP_72 – take a bow sir whoever you are – nailed it so eloquently I will not even attempt to better it: “His line, pause and pass for the 1st try was rugby's equivalent of Pele to Carlos Alberto in 1970.” Absolutely.
Given Smith's eye-popping excellence in the opening 40 it was perhaps surprising to see him replaced at half-time but New Zealand and Steve Hansen are always ruthless in pursuit of victory.
Who would an Australian midfield now lacking Matt Giteau least like to be confronted with straight after the break? Answer: A pumped up Sonny Billy Williams and the big man soon made his presence known with a great off-load to herald a startling run and try from Nonu.
At 21-3 that should have been the killer blow and it's a measure of Australia's wonderful defiance they still con- trived to make a match of it.
The Nonu try was the movie reel highlight of this game, highlighting both his strength, pace and dazzling feet. He seems to have lost nothing physically since he made his debut 12 years ago but in other respects he is almost unrecognisable from his youthful self.
For a long time, and to our shame, we pigeon-holed Nonu as a head-banging powerhouse in midfield and we singularly failed to notice that, alongside Smith, he developed an adroit passing game, a nice range of off-loads and even a decent array of kicking out of hand. In short he became the complete package.
Nonu and Smith will now finish their careers playing in France, for Toulon and Pau respectively. So different but so together it will be very odd watching them going at each other hammer and tongs. But what a treat for the rugby aficionado.