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All Blacks coach praises Jordie Barrett's defensive ‘difference’
It’s hard to believe that Jordie Barrett wasn’t an inside centre at Test level 14 months ago. Barrett donned the No. 12 jersey for the first time last September and hasn’t looked back.
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Less than a week out from the Rugby World Cup final, Barrett appears to be the glue to the All Blacks’ defensive structures. Barrett holds the key to success for the New Zealanders.
Lining up in a familiar-looking midfield combination alongside Rieko Ioane, Barrett was defensively superb during the All Blacks’ semi-final triumph over Rugby Championship rivals Los Pumas.
Barrett attempted an incredible 22 tackles during the 44-6 rout of Argentina. The utility’s effort was slightly better than the All Blacks’ next best in Shannon Frizell who attempted 20 stops.
While wing Will Jordan crossed for an eye-catching hat-trick, there were no arguments with Jordie Barrett receiving Player of the Match honours after a commanding semi-final victory.
“He got player of the match the other day [against Argentina]. He was massive in defence, he attempted the most tackles. But the most pleasing thing for me was he actually applied pressure,” assistant coach Scott McLeod said on Monday.
“Against Ireland, we were probably holding a bit and trying not to show any space in our line, whereas against Argentina when the opportunity arose he went out and pressured it.
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“He saw the pictures a lot earlier, he backed himself to go and do it and those around him supported that and he made quite a difference for us.”
While Barrett left Stade de France with an individual accolade after the Test on Friday night, his defensive effort was a reflection of the progress that the entire team has made.
The All Blacks have made more than 420 tackles in just two matches against Ireland and Los Pumas, which has been the not-so-secret to their success.
“When we look at last year in particular, where and how we got beaten, we were tending to [use a] ‘defend the man’ system. Ireland were too good last year in being able to put the ball into spaces and play through us,” McLeod mentioned.
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“A lot of that is coached in Super Rugby in New Zealand and I do know that northern hemisphere sides in particular will target Kiwis who play up here because they know they are going to be man-focused rather than ball-focused, so we had to shift our skillset in the way we looked at things as defenders.
“So we planted the seed earlier this year with the leaders, got them to work right through the Super and then it got tested early on – throughout all the games we have been tested quite thoroughly on that. However, when the push came to shove, particularly with Ireland who were going to test us the most, it stood up and that was really pleasing.
“It’s relevant against the South African boys. You don’t need to make as many decisions on the ball but you still need to be able to see where the ball is going and watch the influence on the bodies in front of them. That has probably been the biggest shift for us and we will see if it can hold up again.”
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*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
29 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
226 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
226 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
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