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‘If it’s not perfect…’ Jordie Barrett reviews the All Blacks’ ‘great’ start to 2023
Midfielder Jordie Barrett has described the All Blacks’ sensational 41-12 win over Argentina in Mendoza as a “great” way to start the year.
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Led by captain Sam Cane, the All Blacks ran out onto Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in front of a passionate crowd on Saturday afternoon.
But the vibrant home crowd, who were waiting to watch the All Blacks’ first-ever Test match in Mendoza, let out a passionate roar as Los Pumas made their way onto the field shortly after.
Following the scintillating challenge of Kapa o Pango from the All Blacks to their hosts, the stage was set for another fiery instalment of this passionate rugby rivalry.
After overcoming a shaky start, with Argentine flanker Pablo Matera coming within inches of scoring just 20-odd seconds in, the All Blacks began to hit their stride.
It was all the Pumas for the opening four and a half minutes, but then the All Blacks beast was awoken.
The All Blacks unleashed an attacking onslaught throughout the opening term, and took a convincing lead into the break on the back of a 31-point blitz.
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While the second half wasn’t as lopsided, the All Blacks were still pretty close to perfect.
“If it’s not perfect, it’s not far off,” Jordie Barrett told RugbyPass. “Mendoza, passionate, Argentinian rugby city against a quality team. They had a good outfit out there today.
“We just started well and it was a great way to start the year.”
Barrett was particularly impressive during the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship opener, with the utility back making 13 tackles, running the ball 12 times for 72 metres, and scoring a try.
But the Hurricane credited the forwards for their game-changing impact.
Earlier in the week, All Blacks captain Sam Cane previewed the Test as a “battle of collisions” between two physical sides. In particular, Cane said the forwards would determine the victor.
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After the Test, Barrett highlight the effort from “our big boys” as a key factor – just as Cane expected.
“We controlled our set-piece, we got a couple of scrum penalties, our maul started working and then our big boys started going through them with some short passes,” Barrett added.
“(Dane) Colesy scored off one of Scott’s (Barrett) lines early… they’re a team that helps the field so we just had to go really direct and just muscle up there.
“The discipline, last year in Christchurch we gave away nine penalties in the first half-an-hour, this match tonight we were clean and that makes a massive difference.”
The All Blacks are currently on an eight Test unbeaten streak, and the New Zealanders have obviously come a long way compared to where they were this time last year.
After losing a Test series on New Zealand soil to Ireland for the first time ever, the All Blacks went on to lose Rugby Championship clashes with South Africa and Argentina.
While they won the first Bledisloe Cup Test in Melbourne, for those who remember that controversial match, the All Blacks were somewhat fortunate to emerge victorious against the Wallabies.
“We only have to remind ourselves of where we were a little while ago.
“We just try and control every single week and just respect our preparation. We nailed this week, it was a great week of prep here in Mendoza, and we had some great weather.
“I think particularly this early in the season for us, it was great we had the sun on our back and were able to train and get through some things. It was a great win.”
But it doesn’t get any easier for the All Blacks. Not at all.
The New Zealanders are already on their way back to Auckland – they flew out of Argentina on Sunday morning – ahead of a blockbuster against fierce rivals South Africa.
“We can’t look any further than South Africa next week, they’ve sent, I think, half-a-dozen players to New Zealand to start their preparation.
“We get in on Monday night and it’ll be a frontloaded week of recovery but a massive test next week.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
6 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
6 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
6 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
6 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
6 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
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