‘He's been outstanding’: Neil Barnes’ verdict on Beauden Barrett after Stormers

All Blacks assistant coach Neil Barnes admitted veteran first-five Beauden Barrett should be “pretty pleased” with his performance against the Stormers in Cape Town.

The 144-Test playmaker started for the All Blacks for the first time in 2026 under new head coach Dave Rennie, after missing selection in all three July Nations Championship fixtures.

Rennie opted to give Hurricanes first-five Ruben Love the No.10 jersey in all three victories at home, but he was rested in the first match of the seven-week-long Greatest Rivalry Tour.

Barrett started at No.10 alongside Cortez Ratima and Josh Moorby in the playmaking roles, starting the game on the front foot as the All Blacks looked to keep the ball in hand.

The Blues playmaker looked threatening at times, while also producing a couple of errors in his 68-minute shift.

Speaking to travelling New Zealand media in Cape Town, before the All Blacks’ flight to Durban for the Sharks midweek fixture, Barnes provided his take on Barrett’s performance.

“He’s been outstanding. He’s a leader in our team. That’s his first hit out in quite a long time, so if I were him, I’d be pretty pleased with his efforts,” Barnes said.

The former Taranaki head coach then explained what sort of preparation the non-playing side have had for their next fixture, on Wednesday morning NZT against the Sharks.

“We’ve trained as one the whole way through because we wanted to keep the team aligned. We had one training the day before yesterday, and we’ll put another good day’s work into them tomorrow, and then they’re out there.”

Before the first game of the tour, Rennie put complete faith in the veteran, explaining how well Barrett had been training in the lead-up to the tour.

“He’s smart, he’s played 140-odd games for this country, so he won’t try and overplay his hand.”

“His job is to implement and organise people around him. We’ve got a clear plan of how we want to play.

“He’s been training right throughout the time in New Zealand when he wasn’t playing, so he’s all over it, and we just want him to get out and drive the ship for us.”