All Blacks reveal Beauden Barrett headed for X-ray after training injury

Beauden Barrett’s status for the third and final All Blacks Test against France has been confirmed by his absence from the team naming, and there’s potential it won’t be the only Test the centurion misses.

A hand injury has sidelined the 34-year-old for the coming week, but further tests are needed to determine the extent of the damage.

Barrett suffered a broken hand partway through the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season, and it is again his right hand that was strapped up at All Blacks training on Thursday.

At the team naming press conference, All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson confirmed the injury had been sustained at training.

“I’m not a doctor, but it was a little bit puffy,” Robertson said. “So, we looked after him.”

“He was an option to play, he was considered, but we just want to look after him.”

The Rugby Championship kicks off in one month’s time with the All Blacks facing Los Pumas in Córdoba. Should the hand injury be another break, Barrett would certainly be in doubt for that campaign opener.

The expected recovery period for a broken hand is six to eight weeks, a timeline that would put Barrett in doubt to play the Springboks at Eden Park.

The playmaker wasn’t the only one watching All Blacks training on Thursday, with Tupou Vaa’i (concussion) running through individual training work and team captain, Scott Barrett, offering some mentorship as he nurses a calf injury.

Ankle injuries have also befallen Caleb Clarke and Wallace Sititi, while Tamaiti Williams has a knee complaint.

The good news for the All Blacks is the respective returns of Tyrel Lomax, Luke Jacobson, and Anton Lienert-Brown, who have each missed the series to date with injuries. Sevu Reece is also back in black, having missed all but the first minute of the series with a concussion.

Robertson was thrilled to have so many of his troops back on deck and bringing experience to a new-look matchday 23.

“It’s good. Tyrel was 50/50 last week to play. There were some scrummaging sessions where, I tell you what, he definitely let us know he’s available.

“And the likes of Anton, 80-odd Tests, hell of an experienced player, just what you need in games like this; the third of a three-match series and just as important as the first to us.”