Ben Smith’s Super Rugby appears to be all but over with the All Blacks star ruled out for up to eight weeks with a hamstring injury.
Smith suffered a high hamstring injury in the Highlanders’ draw with the Chiefs last Saturday after hyper-extending his leg as he slipped into a tackle.
While he will be out for an extended time, there were initial fears that the injury could be more severe than it turned out to be.
Smith is in his final Super Rugby season, having signed a deal to join French side Pau after the Rugby World Cup.
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With only nine weeks left in the Super Rugby season, including the final, Smith faces a race against time to suit up for the Highlanders again.
The All Blacks’ 2019 calendar doesn’t kick off until July, meaning his World Cup chances are still well and truly alive regardless of his recovery progress.
Fellow All Black and Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith said he backed Ben to return before the 6-8 week timeline.
Aaron Smith made his own incredible return from injury earlier this season after initially being ruled out for more than a month with an ankle injury.
He ended up missing just two matches with injury and said he was confident Ben could make similar progress.
“It’s a bit of a bummer, but 6-8 weeks from how the injury looked you could say that it is very lucky,” he said.
“Very sad to see Bender [Ben Smith] go down like that, [when] any of your mates go down like that it’s a bit disappointing.”
“I know our medical team and I know he’ll have the Highlanders and All Blacks medical teams working together. They got me back earlier than six weeks.
“Bender will work really hard to get back and I’m sure he doesn’t want that to be his last Highlanders game.”
The HIghlanders take on the Jaguares in Dunedin on Saturday May 11, kicking off at 3:15pm AEST, LIVE on FOX SPORTS and Kayo Sports.