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Barrett praised for clutch kick: 'He'll be the guy that won the hundredth'
Fullback Jordie Barrett was the hero for the All Blacks on Saturday night in Townsville, converting a difficult penalty late which saw his side earn a hard-fought 19-17 win in the historic 100th test against South Africa.
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The All Blacks raced out to an early 7-0 advantage three minutes in through a Will Jordan run-away try, but that ended up being the biggest lead of the night for either side. The Springboks responded with five points of their own shortly after with S’busiso Nkosi pouncing on a George Bridge mistake.
The two rivals traded penalties and the lead six times before Barrett got his chance to etch his name in the history books.
Just as the world champions were looking as if they might close the match out, replacement midfielder Quinn Tupaea was first over the ball at the breakdown, and secured a crucial penalty for the men in black.
40 metres back and just over five metres in from the left sideline, Barrett got his chance and took it with the ball sneaking inside the left upright.
Barrett spoke with Stan Sports’ Greg Clarke after the match about the confidence he had in wanting to be the player to step up and win the match for his side.
“Particularly in an All Blacks jersey. These are the test matches you want to be part of,” Barrett said after the 19-17 win. “I was hoping to get an opportunity late in the game, it’s kind of inevitable with that scoreline.
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“Just grateful that Quinn got over the ball and gave me the chance.”
CLUTCH ? #NZLvRSA100 pic.twitter.com/AYcNEwEgN9
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 25, 2021
The All Blacks came into this match as not only the newly ranked number one team in the world, but also the favourites after impressive displays against Australia and Argentina. Meanwhile, the Springboks were looking to record their first win Down Under, after going down in back-to-back tests against the Wallabies.
But poor discipline was arguably the All Blacks’ biggest issue against the reigning world champions, with knock-ons in key moments particularly uncharacteristic.
“We coughed the ball up a lot off our set-piece and first or second phase,” Barrett said.
“We knew that’s not our deal against South Africa, you’ve got to break them down 10-plus phases and we played into their hands, we couldn’t hold onto the ball.
The All Blacks knew exactly what the Springboks would be sending their way – so why did they still struggle at times with Faf de Klerk’s constant barrage of box kicks? #AllBlacks #Springboks #NZLvRSAhttps://t.co/KR9XDH7qop
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 25, 2021
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“It’s a lucky escape to be honest but test matches against South Africa, you get a win, so stoked.”
All Blacks coach Ian Foster, who recently re-signed with New Zealand rugby through to the next World Cup, was full of praise for Barrett’s efforts off the tee.
Foster commented on the history of the 24-year-old being “the guy that won the hundredth”, but was also full of praise for Springboks flyhalf Handre Pollard who was impressive off the tee as well.
“Hats off to Jordie for that last kick, it was a tough kick,” Foster said following the 19-17 win.
“Our bench came on really well. I thought Quinn did outstandingly well to win that turnover and Jordie kick under pressure … he’ll be the guy that won the hundredth, so good on him.
“Both goal kickers kicked well, didn’t they? So there was pressure on and at the end of the day, that won it at the end, it was the key difference. It was a big kick and he nailed it.”
Saturday night was the first time that these two sides had met since 2019 at the Rugby World Cup, where the All Blacks defeated the Springboks 23-13 in Yokohama. But the Springboks would of course go on to claim their third World Cup crown in Japan, and their first since the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
But going into that test in 2019, the Springboks had proven themselves to be tough competition for the All Blacks.
Since their 57-0 loss at North Harbour Stadium in 2017, the Springboks lost two thrillers, ended the All Blacks’ dominance on home soil with a 36-34 win in Wellington, and earned another draw in New Zealand’s capital, all before their Rugby World Cup clash.
While the All Blacks struggled to bring their A-game against the Springboks, the narrow victory provided some perfect lessons for NZ moving forward. #AllBlacks #Springboks #NZLvRSA100https://t.co/LNRv7mpTta
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 25, 2021
But it goes without saying that the rivalry between these two great rugby nations stretches back a lot longer than a few years.
“We spoke early in the week, we didn’t want to shy away – we knew it was a big game. There was a whole lot of reasons why it was big,” Foster said.
“The hundredth and the history of this competition between us. They’re a team that we respect greatly and we’ve had a bit of the edge over them recently but you saw how fine the margins are.”
The win saw the All Blacks officially claim this year’s Rugby Championship crown, and they’ll also keep hold of the Freedom Cup for at least another year.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments