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Beauden Barrett's epic response after being steamrolled by Springbok captain Jean de Villiers
The final round clash of the 2013 Rugby Championship between the Springboks and the All Blacks at Ellis Park will forever be remembered as one of the greatest test matches, and was called ‘the game of 2013’ at the time.
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The All Blacks were five wins from five matches with 23 competition points but the Rugby Championship title had not been secured. They needed a sole competition point to capture their second straight Championship title.
The Springboks with four wins from five and were in with a shot if they could manage a bonus point win and prevent the All Blacks from scoring four tries or a losing bonus point.
The All Blacks finished 38-27 winners in an epic back-and-forth encounter that saw two incredible tries to wing Bryan Habana in the first half, but the story of the match belonged to a young Beauden Barrett.
Playing in just his 13th test match, the reserve All Black flyhalf came on for Aaron Cruden early in the second half after 48th minutes with the Springboks leading 22-21.
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers turned Barrett into a ‘speedbump’ in the 57th minute as the midfielder brutally ran over the top of the young No 10, before also breaking through the grasp of Ma’a Nonu to score an incredible try.
Beauden Barrett… Jean de Villiers says that bus is full!! #Boks
— Dean Kietzmann (@DeanKietzmann) October 5, 2013
Beauden Barrett must have attended the Danny Cipriani school of speedbumps
— Will Slattery (@slatterywill) October 5, 2013
Prime Saffa brawn on show there. Such power from De Villiers. Good try by Cousint Barrett as well.
— Shane Kenny (@alrightcus) October 5, 2013
Beauden Barrett just got steamrolled. De Villiers Style.
— Jack Hampton (@JackHampton97) October 5, 2013
That Jean de Villiers try reminded me a bit of Jonah vs England at Newlands I think it was. Mike Catt would remember #SAvsNZ
— Marcelle Gordon (@MarcelleGordon) October 5, 2013
Beauden Barrett just got steamrollered by Jean de Villiers like he wasn’t even there. Incredible strength.
— Stewart Hogarth (@HogeyBear92) October 5, 2013
De Villiers try, the Boks’ fourth of the game, gave the Springboks a 27-24 lead which kept their slim Rugby Championship hopes alive with the four-try bonus point secured.
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However, Barrett’s revenge didn’t take long as the ‘golden boy’ came up with one of his signature career moments.
The fleet-footed speedster put De Villiers on ice skates, side-stepping him before fending through the cover tackle of Morne Steyn. Once he was into the backfield, he burned past the cover defence of fullback Zane Kirchner to score under the posts.
Barrett’s solo try gave the All Blacks the all-important four-try bonus point to secure the Rugby Championship title.
What a try that was, Mick Jagger’s moves have nothing on Beauden Barrett’s…
— Stuart Riley (@StuartRileyRP) October 5, 2013
Beauden Barrett responds to getting steamrolled by de Villiers by scoring the try which secures the #RugbyChampionship for NZ
— Tom Jackson (@JacksonTC) October 5, 2013
#RugbyChampionship ~ Beauden Barrett, the ABs 5th choice #10 (kidding) waltzes, skips & dazzles. Boks clutch thin air. ABs lead 31-27 (61′)
— Daz Smith (@DazMSmith) October 5, 2013
Beauden Barrett makes up for his slack defence to score New Zealand’s bonus point try – and in so doing seals The Rugby Championship for NZ!
— Bontie (@TheBontie) October 5, 2013
Beautiful. Springboks get 4 tries, a minute later Beauden Barrett like a knife through butter gets the ABs 4th to secure the championship.
— Andy Pickering (@AndyPickeringNZ) October 5, 2013
Love it. De Villiers plows Barrett to score, then Barrett side-steps De Villiers to return the favour. #AllBlacks #RSAvNZL #Springboks
— Not Sir Graham Henry (@SirGrahamHenry) October 5, 2013
Barrett’s impressive cameo didn’t end there however, as he then came up with one of the best try-saving tackles on Willie le Roux with less than four minutes remaining.
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The Springbok right wing took an intercept with the All Blacks deep on attack and a long foot race ensued.
It did not seem like Barrett would hunt Le Roux down, but a perfectly timed ankle tap forced Le Roux to put a toe on the sideline and void the try.
NO TRY!!! A try saver from Beauden Barrett stops Willie Le Roux right before the line, SIMPLY AMAZING!!! #NZvSA
— Siale Langi (@sting_langi) October 5, 2013
Beauden Barrett just made a tackle that is worth more than any try. Most man would of given up.
— Grrr McGee (@D_Grr) October 5, 2013
Great defensive work by Barrett. Heroic stuff since the missed tackle on De Villiers. #TheRugbyChampionship #RSAvNZL
— Davin Lassiter (@MisterLassiter) October 5, 2013
Le Roux’s try would have given the Springboks a chance in the final minutes to win the game, but the ‘no try’ left too much work to do to chase down the All Blacks 38-27 lead.
“We had to dig really deep. There was a hell of a lot of running, add the yellow cards and all the travel. It’s very satisfying,” McCaw said after the game.
Springboks head coach Heyneke Meyer put the blame on his side’s defence which cost South Africa a big victory at home.
“They didn’t score from our mistakes as usual, they scored from poor defence. The boys are shattered. We really wanted to win this,” said Meyer.
“We had to be really accurate defensively and we weren’t. The defining moment was the missed Kieran Read tackle towards the end.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
19 Go to comments