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'I feel for the big fella': All Black locking stocks in strife as Barrett awaits fate
The All Blacks named four locks in their 23 to face the Springboks at Twickenham but may have just two available for their next test against France.
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Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett lined up for the test in the No. 4 and 5 jerseys respectively, and the All Blacks finished the game with Josh Lord and Tupou Vaa’i in the second row.
Whitelock left the field in the 50th minute to make way for his replacement but Barrett was sent off just before the halftime break, having received his second yellow card of the match.
The first card came in the 13th minute as a result of New Zealand giving up 12 penalties in that period. Barrett’s offence was an innocent enough breakdown infringement, but the high penalty count had already seen the All Blacks warned and Barrett’s indiscretion was the final straw.
The lock returned to the field for another 15 minutes before a poorly executed clearout was picked up by the TMO. The reckless dive into the body of Malcolm Marx warranted another yellow and thus, a red.
News on any punishment for the red card will be delivered in the coming days.
While recent bans handed to the likes of Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola were the result of single, red card-worthy offences, namely contact to the head, Barrett’s card being the result of two yellows makes the disciplinary action more unpredictable.
Not helping Barrett’s case is a previous red card back in 2019, when the lock became just the fourth All Black to see red for a dangerous hit on Michael Hooper.
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Regardless of the outcome, Barrett has the backing of his roommate Dane Coles.
“Obviously Scooter will be disappointed,” said Coles. “He’s his own [harshest] critic.
“I feel for the big fella. He never goes out with intentions to get yellow carded. [We’ll] get around him. I’m not sure what the process is with the red card.
“He’s still an important part of this squad going forward, and he’s a great man. We’ll get around him.
“He’s my roomie, actually. I’ll check in on him tonight and make sure he’s alright.”
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That potentially rules out two of the four locks in Ian Foster’s 33-man World Cup squad, while of further concern is the injury to Shannon Frizell, who is the only other player in the squad to cover lock.
If Barrett’s suspension is confirmed, Sam Whitelock and Tupou Vaa’i will be the only locks left standing for the World Cup opener against France.
Ian Foster hasn’t cast his mind that far ahead just yet, expressing no expectations for how the situation will play out.
“I’m not sure,” the coach admitted. “We’ll have to see what the process is.
“He got yellow carded for it. It looked like he was cleaning [out] the guy on the left, and hit the guy on the right.
“We’ll see what comes out of it. We’ll just go through the process.
“Am I expecting to [lose him]? I don’t know. We’ll just see how we deal with that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
2 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
40 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
40 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
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