Ben Smith © Getty Images

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The term 'late bloomer' seems to appear less and less in professional sport these days, mainly because of all the age-representative and talent identification programs in place for the promising youngsters. It's no different in rugby. By the time a young player makes his Super Rugby debut, we've already seen him in action at schoolboy, age-level, and even provincial competitions.

But there is still the odd player who will burst onto the scene in what feels "suddenly" at the time but in actual fact had been a long time coming.

Ben Mowen and Scott Higginbotham were examples in Australia; Highlanders fullback and All Blacks utility back Ben Smith in New Zeland is another.

New Zealanders, of course, will be well across Smith's rise through the ranks, from Kings High School in Dunedin, through Otago in the ITM Cup, NZ Under-21s, the Highlanders, and even his All Blacks debut on the 2009 European Tour. And he'll likely play his 100th Super Rugby match this month. But for many rugby fans in Australia, and elsewhere outside New Zealand, he just sort of appeared from nowhere and started tearing Super Rugby apart in 2010.

A superstar on the field, and a player about whom regular ESPN readers will know we've raved for some time, it was refreshing to find that Ben Smith is just a regular guy off the field. When I called Ben, he battled initially to get his car handsfree set-up to connect; a sure sign that he is human after all.

Smith understands why it feels like he sort of 'exploded' onto the scene a few years ago, because in many ways it felt like that for him, too. He's the first to acknowledge that patience has been a big part of his career.

"Yeah, it has been," he starts. "I think early on, when I was about 22, 23 and made my debut for the Highlanders, I was probably a wee bit late, considering these days that guys debuting are often 19, 20 years old.

"I got an opportunity to play for the All Blacks in 2009, and I played one Test and probably didn't play so well, and then found it tough for a few years to get back in that team. So, yeah. I think I probably just learned a few things; probably matured a wee bit, if that makes sense."

And, of course, it does. Smith accepts that things weren't always easy coming through the ranks in Dunedin, no matter how natural a footballer he looks on the field. And so from that respect, it's probably not surprising that he took his time to emerge.

Ben Smith is a highly elusive runner ... © Getty Images

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... as well as a brilliant and tenacious defender © Getty Images

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"When I was younger and playing at high school, I was a half-back because I wasn't that big," Smith laughs. "But I really enjoyed the game and still got stuck in. And then I went overseas and had a gap year working and playing in Bristol. And then when I came back, I really started to get stuck into my club rugby and from there started to make a few teams."

The South Island modesty is strong.

When Smith says simply that he "got stuck into club rugby", he's not saying that he started starring on the Dunedin club scene as a 20-year-old first five-eighth despite being, as his father recalled a few years ago in Christchurch's The Press, "a skinny white boy".

Smith would debut for Otago within the next year or so, and he made his Highlanders debut in 2009; by the end of that season he became All Black No.1100, wearing No.14, in front of more than 80,000 people in Milan.

"When I was really younger, as in primary school, I played a bit of lock and No.8, and a bit of flanker," Smith says when asked what exactly is his natural position, since it was evident that even early on in his career he wore a few different jersey numbers.

Then and now: Ben Smith © Getty Images/ Colstons

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"I moved to 9 as I got a bit older, and then pushed out to 10. And I've sort of been pushed out a wee bit now to fullback ...

"There's really only one more spot to be pushed," Smith laughs, "and that's to the bench - hopefully that's not any time soon.

"Fullback is my preferred position, but I'm equally happy playing on the wing or... or you know, wherever I'm needed within the team," he says, immediately knocking away any semblance of entitlement within the team ethos that he's become famous for, in whatever jersey he's wearing at the time. "I just enjoy being out there, so it doesn't really worry me."

After taking a few years to properly get established within the Highlanders side, Smith played every game of the 2010 season and then every game in 2011 in his preferred fullback position, after Israel Dagg had switched to the Crusaders. He played his second Test in July of that year, against Fiji, and was widely considered to be a strong contender for the Rugby World Cup squad.

Smith admits, in a rare moment of self-observation, that missing the tournament at home hurt a lot.

"Yeah, it was a huge disappointment, actually. But at the time, I realised there were a couple of good players playing in New Zealand, and that I had to just bide my time a wee bit and hope that there would be a chance in the coming years to get another crack.

"But, yeah, everyone wants to be part of a World Cup, and it was frustrating at the time. But I think knowing that there were really good players ahead of me, I just had to be patient and wait for my chance. Some of the players that were playing at that time were playing outstanding rugby, so understandably I was in behind them."

Smith didn't have to wait long.

After another standout season for the Highlanders, Smith starred in the sweep of Ireland in June 2012 and has essentially played every Test since. But for Smith himself, it still takes some getting used to that he's an All Black regular now.

"I think as a young fella, you always want to play as many minutes or play as many games as you possibly can, because you just enjoy the game. So I've been very lucky in that aspect to have played quite a few games over the last few years, but I think this year with the World Cup, it's going to be really competitive for places.

"This year is a new year, and I'll still have to be playing my best rugby to make that squad."

His Highlanders team-mates are also playing their best rugby, and another Super Rugby play-offs berth awaits. But after sneaking into the top six in 2014, the Highlanders of 2015 are very much a known quantity. If they were the surprise packets last season, this year there is an expectation both internally and externally that they can go deep into the play-offs.

Though that's not to say they don't still enjoy operating somewhat under the media spotlight.

"We leave that for the blokes up north," Smith jokes. "I think we just like to go about our work quietly down here and just do the best job we can. And, yeah, down in the Dunedin we don't get a lot of media or TV time or anything like that, and that's the way we like it."

And fair enough.

But the Highlanders seem set to experience a spike in their media commitments over the next few months. And it will be well deserved. Make no mistake, they're right up there with the best teams in the competition; and Ben Smith is right up there with the best players in the world.