Have faith, Beauden Barrett will show up for the All Blacks when it matters
Beauden Barrett’s form matters as much as today’s weather in six month’s time as far as the All Blacks are concerned.
There is no need to fall victim to the prisoner of the moment, short-term view that somehow one of the all-time greats at 32 years old will miss this year’s World Cup.
Skills don’t disappear overnight, neither does experience. This is a 100-Test All Black with a body that, touch wood, rarely gets injured.
There have been the head knocks, but no knees or serious muscles injuries which is an incredible feat in itself to stay healthy.
Barrett’s engine needs a tune up in September to peak in November, not April. Until then he should be cruising along at half speed to stay fresh and keep a low mileage.
Against the Hurricanes in early March he made a grand total of 0 tackles from 0 attempts, which from New Zealand Rugby’s point of view was perfect.
There is no need to burn out or injure one of the All Blacks’ most important players before it really matters.
Ireland have made the smart decision. Johnny Sexton’s boots will barely touch grass until the World Cup following the Six Nations Grand Slam.
It would be wise to put Barrett and a host of others on ice too, but there is a Rugby Championship to get through and NZR can’t completely destroy Super Rugby Pacific.
Barrett can be trusted to find form when it matters as he has been through this before.
Following the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where Barrett won two man-of-the-match awards against South Africa and Ireland at fullback, he went on extended leave.
He wasn’t supposed to play in New Zealand in 2020 but the pandemic disrupted those plans.
He turned up to the Blues lighter than before and got himself on the pitch but he didn’t tear teams apart like he used to.
There were classy touches but he looked on the wrong side of 30 for the first time. His form with the All Blacks was similar. Still good, but not the player that everyone was used to.
Then he went to Japan.
He came back from his stint with the Suntory Sungoliath after re-finding his running game, with an extra gear of speed that had been missing. He put back on more muscle and bolstered his frame again.
He went straight back into Test rugby with the All Blacks and won back the starting 10 role with Mo’unga taking extended leave.
Against South Africa on the Gold Coast he skinned Handre Pollard with pace and set up one of the tries of the season to Ardie Savea.
In his 100th Test he bagged two predatory intercept tries in a 50-point thrashing against Wales.
His head knock derailed the Ireland test early, which the All Blacks went on to lose, and he was absent for next week’s crushing defeat against France.
In 2022 the Blues went on a 15-game winning streak with Barrett back at 10 running hard at the line and breaking tackles once again.
Barrett will peak when it matters, which is when the All Blacks play France in pool play and likely one of Ireland or South Africa in a quarter-final.
The whispers are Galthie’s World Cup plan involves France kicking everything and running high line, outside-in rush defence like South Africa in 2019.
If France want to play like South Africa that is music to Barrett’s ears. He has a 12-3-1 record in All Blacks teams that have played the Springboks.
From Ellis Park in 2013, Durban in 2016, the 57-0 slaughtering in 2017, to the 2019 pool match in Japan, his fingerprints have been all over those results. He has unequivocally been the Boks’ daddy.
France too, have copped it from the All Blacks with Barrett playing. He has never lost a Test match to France, winning eight from eight.
Those big physical teams don’t want to see Barrett on the field. They will want to kick to him even less so.
The old adage is cliche but must be repeated: form is temporary, class is permanent.
Don’t worry about Beauden Barrett’s form in Super Rugby Pacific. When the All Blacks need him, he’ll be there.
Comments on RugbyPass
Very 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.
2 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.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments