'It's obviously my preferred position': Beauden Barrett eyes return to No. 10 following Otere Black injury
Fresh on the back of his side’s thrilling 29-27 defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday, Blues playmaker Beauden Barrett is already eyeing a return to the No. 10 jersey.
Twice named World Rugby Player of the Year for his breathtaking exploits from first-five, it’s a position Barrett hasn’t started in since the All Blacks‘ Rugby Championship victory over Argentina last year.
Instead, the 29-year-old has been plying his trade at fullback for both the New Zealand national team and the Blues in Super Rugby Aotearoa, forming one half of a dual playmaking axis in both sides.
Whether it’s been with Richie Mo’unga for the All Blacks or Otere Black with the Blues, Barrett has been seen only exclusively in the No. 15 jersey over the past year, which has drawn some criticism in recent weeks.
A nullified impact on attack from the backfield was among the focal points of negative press aimed at Barrett after last week’s defeat to the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Many lamented the fact that, while his vastly improved kicking game had been exemplary in the opening half of the Kiwi domestic competition, the 83-test star’s world-class attacking ability with ball in hand had yet to be seen.
UK scribe Stuart Barnes even went as far to label Barrett playing at fullback as a “liability” while writing for The Times, stating: “New Zealand rugby is in danger of turning one of the most original talents in the history of the sport into a liability.”
While again named to play at fullback against the Hurricanes upon his return to Wellington for the first time since his high-profile transfer last year, the 2016 Super Rugby champion showed glimpses of what he is capable of on attack.
A silky, well-taken try in the ninth minute saw him burst past TJ Perenara and Tyrel Lomax to canter in by the posts after he took the line on at first-receiver from 45 metres out.
Sandwiched between that try, though, were two defensive mishaps on Ngani Laumape, the first of which saw Barrett uncharacteristically skinned for pace on the left wing by the burly second-five.
The second error resulted in Barrett being simply bulldozed by his former Super Rugby teammate, but it is his try-scoring effort that will ease concerns from those who expressed doubt surrounding his attacking prowess since moving to the Blues.
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It highlighted the threat he poses from being able to dictate play so close to the defensive line, which is why many have called for him to return to first-five from fullback.
A first half injury to Black in Saturday’s clash may have paved the way for Barrett to do just that, with the latter speaking of his desire to return to the No. 10 jersey as Blues head coach Leon MacDonald revealed the former was sent to hospital for scans as a result of a collision with Ben Lam.
“He’s had to shoot off to hospital to get a scan on his neck. It’s pretty bad. He wanted to play on. He thinks he’s 110kg and bulletproof,” MacDonald told media at the post-match press conference.
“It’s a pretty sore neck, he can’t turn it. The sensible thing was we subbed him and obviously we’ve got a decent first-five who came on and did a job for us.”
How long Black will be sidelined for is yet-to-be-determined, but the Blues are in good stead should the Maori All Blacks representative be ruled out of action for a lengthy period as Barrett looms as his likely replacement.
“I enjoyed that role and it’s obviously my preferred position. I’ve been training there for the second half of trainings in case Otey got injured I’d be ready for that,” Barrett said.
“I’m just happy to be playing where I can get ball in hand, that’s where I feel that I have more influence.”
That should signal warning signs for the winless Chiefs, who will travel to Auckland to face the Blues next Sunday in a bid to redeem themselves for their 24-12 loss in the reverse fixture in Hamilton last month.
The task of taming Barrett in his favoured position is daunting enough as it is, but throw in the expected returns of Hoksins Sotutu from a knee injury and Caleb Clarke, who attended his grandfather’s tangi this weekend, and the Blues will be heavy favourites to end their run of back-to-back defeats.
“He [Sotutu] is keen to go and we’ll see how he fronts,” MacDonald said.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments