Aaron Smith is expecting a tough personal challenge from Nick Phipps in Dunedin on Saturday, the Highlanders and All Blacks half-back describing his Waratahs and Australia counterpart as "a very abrasive, very smart player" who is "competitive to the end, just like me".

"I always enjoy playing [Phipps]," Smith told ESPN exclusively. "I've played against him a few times now, obviously when he was at the Rebels and now the Waratahs, and then I played against him a few times with Australia playing the All Blacks. You don't get much out of him chat wise, which is good, so he's not too cheeky - he just lets his play do that talking."

The Kiwi, meanwhile, praised Will Genia, Phipps' key rival for the Wallabies' No.9 jumper, as "one of the best, if not the best I've ever played against".

"He keeps you on your toes on all parts of his game: kicking, running, passing and defence," Smith said of the Reds half-back against whom he went head-to-head in Dunedin in Super Rugby round three. Genia produced a strong performance to win the Growden Medal poll that week.

"Whenever you play him you're in for a long night … it was good to play against him a couple weeks ago. I enjoy those challenges, I'm probably going to get the same thing on Saturday with Nick."

Genia succumbed to injury in 2014, when he watched the Reds fall to 13th on the Super Rugby ladder and lost his Wallabies starting jersey, and Smith thought the Australian only now was recapturing his top form to challenge Phipps for the Test jumper.

Will Genia and Nic White are contenders for the Wallabies No.9 jersey © Getty Images

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"I think the hard thing was that he came back from an injury and they expected the old Genia back straight away, which is a pretty hard thing to do," Smith told ESPN.

"Obviously you had Nic White and Nick Phipps playing really well; it's a hard one for him and he couldn't come straight back in. I think those two guys were playing really well. Then obviously with Phipps playing with [Bernard] Foley at the Waratahs, it kind of helped: their combo was winning, it won Super Rugby, why not keep the same combo in Test level. That sounds like the smart thing to do."

Smith, however, considers the season too young to comment on the Bledisloe Cup rivals who have been put under the microscope in Australia to prove who is the better player is; their New Zealand counterpart believes, rather, that the Wallabies won't lose out either way. Indeed, having playing against both players in Super Rugby and international Test matches for several years, Smith is bemused by the talk of Wallabies selections so early into the season.

"It's a tough one, it's literally game four or five, it's too early to say anything like that," Smith said when asked who could take the gold No.9 jersey.

"I'm sure those two are just focused on staying in shape and making sure their individual teams do really well, and I think when you do that as a player you just try to do your best for your region and team and that's all you can do. Then it comes up for the coaches to make the decision.

"So the coaches have a big pickle there; I don't think you lose either way with either of them."