Beauden Barrett was building a legacy to match Carter and now has become an All Blacks' afterthought
Talent recognises talent, so they say.
Earlier this year “over 100” New Zealand Super Rugby players contributed anonymously to poll questions from a radio host, pertaining to the state of the game.
Forty percent of respondents reportedly nominated Beauden Barrett as this country’s best player and 58 percent said he was our best first five-eighth.
Judged against what’s happened since, Barrett isn’t even the best fullback in his family and is flat out getting a game at first-five for anyone.
So how has it got to this? How is that Barrett – in the eyes of many of his peers the best New Zealand player of this generation – wears 15 most of the time now, doesn’t goal kick and seemingly isn’t going to become the dominant force we all assumed?
Having been groomed for it for years, why was he not New Zealand’s first five-eighth at the 2019 Rugby World Cup? How did a team that was supposedly ‘his’ end up in the hands of Richie Mo’unga?
Has Barrett been the architect of all this? Have coaches let him down? Why do we insist on forever playing people out of position?
Do you not watch Barrett play now and wonder what happened? How did a player of such sublime talent become something of an All Blacks’ afterthought and how long can we persist with him at fullback?
If he’s not playing 10 and kicking all the goals and calling all the shots and taking ownership for all the results, then why is he actually in the team? Especially when Jordie Barrett is the better fullback.
Let’s be honest here: Richie Mo’unga has fashioned a formidable Super Rugby resume but his All Blacks’ performances have only really been adequate. He’s been picked on potential and his Crusaders’ deeds, rather than anything else.
Not being able to get a game ahead of him will hardly be doing wonders for Barrett’s confidence, will it?
Barrett is partly culpable here too. By being choosy about how much Super Rugby he’s prepared to play, the 29-year-old has given others the opportunity to shine in his absence.
Mo’unga has guided the Crusaders to four franchise titles on the trot and then Barrett suffered the embarrassment of not being able to displace Otere Black at the Blues.
Would Barrett have been better as a one-club man? Could, instead of putting snaps on social media from the Super Bowl, he have been back in New Zealand fighting for the No.10 jersey?
Leaving Wellington for Auckland is one thing, but many people feel ditching the Hurricanes for the Blues was quite another. Especially when Daniel Carter remained a Crusader despite living in Auckland.
Barrett could have remained indispensable to the All Blacks at first five-eighth and he has to take some responsibility for the fact that he’s not.
It’s not all on him, though. The idea of Aaron Cruden coming on to finish games, during the 2017 British and Irish Lions series, was a poor one.
At a time when the team actually needed the ball to be in Barrett’s hands, it wasn’t. And you have to be so careful when it comes to the treatment of playmakers.
Not only does the rest of the team have to have absolute confidence in their 10, he has to be rock solid in his belief too. Decisions such as that have undermined Barrett’s standing in the team, as has this semi-permanent shift to fullback.
It’s a testament to his athleticism and talent that the arrangement has worked well on occasions, but we can all see the lifespan of that move diminishing. Partly because his impact is becoming limited, but also because his little brother is potentially a better option.
Jordie Barrett is not a test wing and the sooner we abandon that experiment the better. Might he be good in midfield? Well, while we are abandoning backline experiments, let’s not let Rieko Ioane have a run at 13 again.
For now, Jordie Barrett’s best spot is 15. In fact, if he’s not playing there, he probably shouldn’t be on the park. It’s just that if he’s fullback, what happens to Beauden?
The All Blacks’ backline selection policy is a bit of a shambles right now. It’s very much a case of picking the most talented players and then finding somewhere for them to play, regardless of suitability.
In terms of Beauden Barrett: do we need to accept that he won’t be in the 23 every week? That there are better options at both 10 and 15 and that his days as a first-choice All Black are numbered?
When Barrett was World Rugby player of the year in 2016 and 2017 you’d have suggested the best was still to come. That he’d lead the All Blacks to the 2019 World Cup title and win game after game after game from first five-eighth, building a legacy to almost match that of Daniel Carter.
Strange as it sounds, the debate around Barrett might now centre around whether he ever did manage to realise his immense potential, instead of where he ranks among the all-time greats?
Either way, it’s hard to fathom how quickly it’s all come to this.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’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.)
3 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.
29 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
2 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?
3 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.
3 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 comments