'He's earned my respect': Neil Barnes on Luke Jacobson's performance against France

All Blacks assistant coach Neil Barnes has put to bed any doubts about Luke Jacobson’s selection last week against France, labelling his performance as “outstanding”.

Jacobson, who was one of the most surprising match-day 23 selections from Dave Rennie, impressed in the second half against France after having a slow start, bouncing back from giving away two penalties.

The Chiefs captain led the All Blacks in tackles with 18 and provided Will Jordan with a superb try assist late on in the piece as he fended off a last-ditch French defender.

Barnes, speaking to media in Auckland at the start of the Italy Test week, explained that the 29-year-old earned his selection.

“Well, I guess other people are allowed to be [surprised], but like if you watched Super Rugby this year, he played a lot of games at seven,” Barnes said.

“We thought he was outstanding, so it’s not a surprise to me. He’s earned my respect, and I thought he showed the rest of the country what he’s got on board.

“That’s good, mate. At the end of the day, we like to do our work behind the scenes to make sure we get our selection right, and I think he’s actually just supported that.”

“Yeah really pleased. But I said it before, like it’s being brilliant at basics. It’s a lot to do with everyone’s role inside that, the footwork, the clean out early cleans, having options all around the ball,” the All Blacks assistant said in Auckland.

“So people can’t just line up and T-bone you with two tackles, so yeah, it’s a lot of little things go into that, but really pleased with the speed of our ball.”

With Blues captain and All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu ruled out of the France contest with a tight calf, the three All Blacks locks in the 23-man squad had a huge task in front of them.

Josh Lord and Sam Darry, despite having only seven and twelve Tests prior to the Nations Championship fixture, were the more experienced locks, as Jamie Hannah made his debut off the bench.

Barnes explained his anxiety levels about his locking stocks were “going through the roof” last week, but he couldn’t be prouder of his group.

“Oh, mate, I couldn’t be happier with those men. My anxiety levels during that week were going through the roof, you know. Our four top locks were all out, and we had another one pull out during the week.

“So, yeah, sometimes when injuries happen, it actually allows you to develop more depth underneath. So really pleased for those boys.”