He will be 36 years old when the 2027 World Cup spins around. He looks after his body and mind alike, and he is one of the greatest rugby athletes of the past 15 years. Perhaps the greatest. Nonetheless, there is an abiding question about whether Beauden Barrett can make it to Australia with all his rugby-playing faculties intact.
On Saturday afternoon at Twickenham, the 34-year-old oval-ball genius was completely overshadowed by the 32-year-old from Oldham opposite him, George Ford. Perhaps Johnny Sexton really was a precursor of things to come, and outside-halves in rugby will grow older, richer and wiser with the passage of time. That truth already holds water in the NFL after all, where ‘GOAT’ Tom Brady won his last Superbowl at the grand old age of 43.
Far more likely, the wear and tear will take its toll and Father Time will demand his pound of flesh. It looked very much as if one of the greatest backs in New Zealand rugby history had started the game carrying a leg injury. That resulted in two bad missed touches from penalty kicks, and the ludicrous situation of the All Blacks tapping a penalty award near halfway in the 46th minute, then asking Will Jordan to do the honours and kick for touch four minutes later.
As ex-All Black 10 Stephen Donald noted on Sky Sport’s The Breakdown: “Clearly Beaudy was carrying something [an injury]. Okay, start him – but when Beaudy is not in a position to kick for touch, or take a shot at goal from 40 [metres] out… was that because his quad [muscle] was a bit sore? Respectfully, Will Jordan, I have never seen him kick for touch!”
Whether Barrett began proceedings with the injury or it occurred during the game, he was not replaced until the 55th minute and clearly played second fiddle to the man opposite him on the day.
It highlighted a glaring lack of clarity in Kiwi thinking. While the All Blacks fumbled in the dark over straightforward kicks to touch, Ford crisply popped over two drop-goals to bring England back into the game just before oranges. One team knew what it was doing and trusted its processes implicitly; the other did not.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 17, 2025
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 17, 2025
Where the England fly-half secured a lineout turnover from his 50/22 kick, the All Blacks first five-eighth gave the throw back to the opposition. Both kicks are well-executed but Cam Roigard is passing the ball back to Barrett from inside the opposition half where Alex Mitchell is not. The margins are not huge but it is the men in white who are the clearer and more definite in their aims, and understand the meaning of the ‘battle for inches’ the Al Pacino character described so well in the movie Any Given Sunday.
“The margin for error is so small. One half step too late or too early, you don’t quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game – every minute, every second.”
New Zealand’s strategic problems can be observed most keenly in their use of the bench and effectiveness in the final quarter of games. Take a look at the following raw stats.
The pattern has been consistent ever since ‘Razor’ Robertson took over as head coach after the 2023 World Cup. The All Blacks are pin-sharp in the first 20 minutes and tend to score heavily in that period, suggesting top-quality game planning and assessment of the opponent’s weaknesses. In the second half, and in the fourth quarter especially, they are a blunt instrument which leaks points at an unprecedented rate for any New Zealand side.
England had lost to New Zealand three times in 2024 by a combined total of 10 points, and they failed to score a point after the hour mark in all of them. On Saturday, they made sure there was no repeat, winning the second half by a margin of 14 points and the last 20 by eight. That is progress for you folks, and you can view it in the following table.
England are no great shakes in the opening exchanges but they are mighty indeed on the home stretch, and they are learning from their losses more quickly than New Zealand. As ex-All Blacks Jeff Wilson and full-back Mils Muliaina observed on Sky Sport’s The Breakdown: “You have to respect what England have done over the last 18 months. They’ve gone and looked at their philosophies and they have picked a 6/2 split on the bench. I’ll say it again, a 6/2 split on the bench.
“Have we ever heard of that before in New Zealand? They didn’t start with their strongest forward pack [at Twickenham], they held it [back] for impact coming off the bench.
“If I look into the future, we are going to be chasing them for a little while [now].” [Wilson]
“We haven’t got the bench sorted. Cortez Ratima hasn’t played a lot of games.” [Muliaina]
“None of these guys have played a lot of games. Anton Lienert-Brown hasn’t seen any rugby and he’s been asked to come off the bench and change the course of a Test match.” [Wilson]
England pushed their chips all-in on a 6/2 split including no fewer than five of this year’s British and Irish Lions forwards on the pine, they were relying on one natural back-rower [Chandler Cunningham-South] providing cover in the tight five, and either Ben Earl or Henry Pollock covering number 12 and the wing from the back-row.
There was a clear plan and the contrast with Razor’s 5/3 filled with makeweights and fill-ins was brutal. The only two game-breakers on the New Zealand bench were Damian McKenzie in the backs and Tamaiti Williams up front, but as soon as Williams came on the Kiwi scrum started to engage reverse gear.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 17, 2025
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 17, 2025
These two scrums feature Baxter [starter] – Cowan-Dickie [finisher] – Heyes [starter] for England and Williams [finisher] – Taukei’aho [finisher] – Newell [starter] for New Zealand and it is clear Heyes has Williams’ number. The grin on his face as he stands above the prone Tamaiti after the second set-piece tells its own story.
Williams is one of the great young hopes of New Zealand rugby and rightly so, but some players like to start the game, other like to finish it. The signs are Mighty Tamaiti prefers to start, and when the three Lions on England’s bench arrived in the front row, they made their point in no uncertain terms.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 17, 2025
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 18, 2025
In all four scrums, Williams pops up and pulls out of the contest, and the bench as a whole never lent the team the positive energy England skipper Maro Itoje described so eloquently afterwards.
“I believe in this team massively,” he said. “I think we’re a great team, with a great coaching staff and a great squad. Today was a representation of the whole squad.
“So many players were fantastic. The bench did it again, and some. The energy it gives this stadium and the team when we see those guys at the side of the pitch, it’s amazing.”
With all his players fit and firing, Robertson should return Williams to starting duty alongside Codie Taylor and Tyrel Lomax as soon as possible, with De Groot, Taukei’aho and Newell coming hard off the bench. And who knows, maybe Ollie Norris or Xavier Numia or Tevita Mafileo or Josh Fustitu’a could do that finishing job even better than De Groot?
After failing to register a single point in the last quarter of all of their 2024 contests against the All Blacks, Borthwick finally had enough. In the course of 2025, he has tweaked and reinforced his predominantly 6/2 bench until it has become as irresistible as Rassie Erasmus’ with the Springboks. Make no mistake, that is how England prevailed on Saturday.
Where England’s Lions growled and clawed for their inches, New Zealand’s replacements barely plugged a gap. The lack of lucidity extended to first five-eighth, where the elder stateman in white overshadowed his illustrious opposite number simply by staying fit, playing within the system and sticking to plan. There must now be questions raised about whether a 36-year-old Beaudy will still be winning the battle of inches at number 10 at the World Cup.
As Pacino concluded his rousing call to battle: “When we add up all those inches – that’s going to make the f***ing difference between winning and losing, and living and dying.”
BB needs to retire. One of our greatest backs..but no longer. Mounga and Dmac should be our 1/5's..blood a young 1/5 next year…prepare him for the WC and beyond..we have a few with potential..but they are not ready yet and won't be until Robertson brings them into the mix..
Calling BB the greatest as a consideration is a mighty far stretch. He has had his chances #10 & not progressed (2019 RWC). 3 players who need to move on; 2 of which have had their time & deteriorated ( BB & Reiko), the 3rd (Ratima) is just too slow for international & does not have a boot nor a pressing game. Please ABs, quit it with this having faith in those who are not evolving & bring back the great hand skills & game reads. Razor needs experience around him
After 7 super rugby championships they both deserve a crack at international level …
Plus razor knows everything mounga needs to succeed … he'll do everything to make sure mounga gets that …
You’ll never see this happen again in your life time …
It would appear that some conversations are pointless. You enjoy worshipping at the cult of mounga/Razor
Foster also had mounga at 10 … thats how important mounga is . Because Foster wins nothing with Barrett at 10 or any 10 other than mounga .
BB is just the best 10 razor can pick inside nz … , mounga will be home soon …
This is his first grandslam … Obviously he's learning on the job …
Always someone else’s fault. No responsibility ever taken. Razor is a failure. Foster had 2 rugby championships by now.
If Razor keeps selecting BB even tho he doesn’t believe in him then the guy is an idiot. Isn’t it wonderful to find out this week that Razor and his mates are Learning on the job”. Pathetic.
If the All Blacks want to hand over another RWC final to the Boks, then play Beauden Barrett again.
Beauden does not have a penetrating game any more. He is visibly scared and that makes the backline not effective. I like the player, but honour him by keeping his legacy intact as he is tarnishing it. I have to rely on old videos when my son asks me why is that guy playing.
Even when he clears for touch, not much distance is gained (20m at most) and pressure is all over the team again. In the last RWC final, his clearance was a whole 20m short and that resulted in a try because pressure was not released. Playing him has also damaged Damien McKenzie confidence. This decision has suddenly put the All Blacks on n dispare for a flyhalf position.
Good post XM.
no one wants to lose . But its not razors fault Beauden cant execute the plan . Obviously if Barrett or dmac had the goods. Razor wouldnt of done so much just to get mounga back …
You could play love . But love isnt playing better than Barrett or dmac in super rugby. So why would he play better than them at test level ? …
Your emotions have made you hallucinate, or ate you saying Razor is deliberately losing at the moment?
Brother , your emotions are clouding your logical sense . Let’s see what happens next year … its a exciting schedule and its a perfect platform to build momentum for 2027 …
If it all goes to plan and they string enough wins together we will go into 2027 comfortable and confident . If not aw well … the All Blacks dominated for 100 years and the times have changed… 🤣
Yeah. Good domestic player. Can’t hack test rugby. Like his coach.
Those AB second half scoring stats are incredible and should be in flashing lights with an alarm bell ringing.
I am sure Razor & Holland would be happy to point out there is a 60% improvement to Q4 scoring, suggesting the problem is being improved, whilst shuffling uncomfortably when someone suggests moving it from Q4 to Q3 isn’t exactly an what you would call an improvement. 🤣🤣
Where is the urgency in this to address?? I’ve just read Jason Holland’s response to their game review. We had 4 kicks that changed the game. No, you had 4 kicks, lacked structure in attack throughout, had very little penetration and your selection looked totally wrong. That’s the sort of candid honesty the fans expect to hear . . . . and then what you will do differently to never let that happen again and prove you are progressing.
It’s ultimately a bench problem P, as the better benches now often enter the fray from 45th minute on!
NB - do you think the stat makers need to start showing the stat KPI’s by Quarters rather than games?
They have traditionally shown them by game totals but in the current era of bench impact, it feels you need to see the numbers on a quarter by quarter basis to make sense of how the game changes in the current era.
The stats world moves pretty slowly P😁
Mounga never got a token trophy … but he has 7 super rugby trophies in a row …
Foster had a 70% win rate , razor has a 73% win rate … and its only going to get better when mounga returns …
Next year we will see just how good mounga is when he has full control of the team . No more dual play maker. no more 50/50 coach. The team will be Taylor made just for him … 😌