Beauden Barrett named at No. 10 for first time in nearly a year as Blues name side for Chiefs clash
Star Blues playmaker Beauden Barrett will start at No. 10 for the first time in nearly a year this weekend after being named to start at first-five for his side’s Super Rugby Aotearoa clash against the Chiefs.
The match comes 324 days after Barrett’s last outing in his preferred position when he donned the No. 10 jersey for the All Blacks in their 92-7 victory over Tonga ahead of last year’s World Cup.
Since then, the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year has been used exclusively at No. 15 for both the All Blacks and the Blues, with both teams opting for a dual-playmaking axis between first-five and fullback.
The selection of Barrett in the backfield has come under scrutiny in recent times, however, especially with the Blues falling to two consecutive losses to the Crusaders and Hurricanes over the past fortnight.
Critics have pinpointed the lack of influence the 29-year-old has had from fullback in comparison to that of when he is playing at first-receiver.
Aside from the 45m try he scored against the Hurricanes upon his return to his former franchise last week, Barrett’s blistering running game has been noticeably absent since debuting for the Blues a month ago.
He has instead deployed a territorial style of play, putting boot to ball far more frequently than challenging defenders with his pace and footwork.
However, Blues head coach Leon MacDonald has opted to reinstate his marquee player back into the No. 10 jersey, less than a week after Barrett voiced his preference to play there rather than at fullback.
The positional shift comes after regular picot Otere Black was taken from the field last week following a collision with Hurricanes wing Ben Lam that resulted in a neck injury that required a hospital visit.
Black since been demoted to the bench for this week’s encounter with the last-placed Chiefs at Eden Park, but will have to emerge from Friday’s contact session unscathed if he is to be deemed fit to play on Sunday.
If he can’t manage that, exciting youngster Emoni Narawa, who started on the right wing last week, will take his place in the No. 22 jersey.
Narawa’s place in the starting side has been taken by breakout star Mark Telea, who has swapped wings to accomodate for the return of the in-form Caleb Clarke after he missed the Hurricanes clash to attend his grandfather’s funeral.
The duo help form a new-look back three that features one-time All Black Matt Duffie as Barrett’s replacement at fullback.
In the forward pack, experienced flanker Blake Gibson is named to start at blindside flanker for his 50th Blues match ahead of Aaron Carroll.
The only other alteration comes in the second row, where Gerard Cowley-Tuioti comes in for the impressive Josh Goodhue, who joins a reserves bench that has three further new faces in the form of Karl Tu’inukuafe, Sam Nock and Harry Plummer.
“We have always said that we have brought Beauden to the Blues to run the cutter but after the season-ending injury to Stephen Perofeta, it forced a rethink,” MacDonald said of his side.
“He was our best option for fullback with the luxury have having another outstanding No 10 in Otere Black.
“With Otere carrying a slight injury, then we’ve moved Beauden to No. 10 and I am sure he is looking forward to that challenge, while Matt Duffie was good when he came on at fullback.
“We are pleased to have Blake back on the field. He is key part to our loose forward mix both defensively and with ball in hand and I am sure the team want him to enjoy his 50th game with a strong performance.”
MacDonald added that the Chiefs, who are yet to win a game in Super Rugby Aotearoa, aren’t a team that should be underestimated.
“We know the Chiefs are much better than their results and will bring everything to this match as they always do. There’s everything to play for and we are excited to be home at Eden Park in front of a big crowd of fans on Sunday.”
The Blues team is: 15 Matt Duffie, 14 Mark Telea, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 TJ Faiane, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie; 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Blake Gibson, 5 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu ©, 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 Kurt Eklund, 1 Alex Hodgman.
Reserves: 16 Luteru Tolai, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18. Sione Mafileo, 19 Josh Goodhue, 20 Tony Lamborn, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Otere Black or Emoni Narawa, 23 Harry Plummer.
Comments on RugbyPass
This is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
2 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
4 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
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