'Long term, it's the best plan': Jordie Barrett on All Blacks changes against Italy

Hints from within the All Blacks camp point to some selection changes coming for round 2 of the Nations Championship against Italy in Wellington.

The matchday 23 that delivered a 34-32 win over France featured three new faces on the bench, and 10 of the familiar starters from last year continuing their incumbency to begin Dave Rennie’s reign as head coach.

Two locks, Tupou Vaa’i and Patrick Tuipulotu, were ruled out with injuries and are expected to be fit and available this week, while Pasilio Tosi was also said to have an issue the team was monitoring.

Nine further players in the 34-man squad are eagerly awaiting their first minutes in the black jersey for the year.

Assistant coach Neil Barnes fronted the media on Monday and said: “There are some boys that went alright last week that might not be in there, but there were also some really good performances that are going to be rewarded.”

Jordie Barrett, who started at second five-eighth against France, also suggested changes were in the works.

“I think in the short-term it’s certainly not ideal rolling a whole lot of new bodies in, but long-term, a few weeks, months down the track, even further, it’s the best plan,” Barrett said on Sport Nation.

“We’re going to get a lot of growth out of our whole squad, from one to 36. You’ve got limited reps in a Test week if you’re starting. So just trying to maximise the output of the squad and get everyone in sync in terms of the way that we’re trying to play, and our game plan, and our systems.

“It’s an exciting way we’re trying to play, and all of the boys are loving being in the system at the moment.”

Barrett, who began his All Blacks career primarily playing fullback, says he is open to selection in both the backfield and the midfield and often fulfils both roles during games, describing his position as “pretty fluid” throughout his 80 minutes on the park.

Coming away from the France Test, Barrett said there was some fatigue across the playing group thanks to a high-tempo game under controlled conditions at One New Zealand Stadium.

“The boys are pretty wrecked. There’s no GPS under the roof, so there’s no excuse for why we’re tired,” Barrett laughed. “There was a lot of ball in play; lightning-quick ball was about 83 per cent, which is a crazy stat. Both teams came to play with a low kicking rate.”

Following up on his point about there being fewer kicks than may have been expected, Barrett shared an insight into the All Blacks’ kicking strategy.

“Certainly, from our side, the plan was to kick a whole lot less than we have in the past, and just look for opportunities to run from our own half, even deep in our own 22,” he revealed.

New Zealand kicked 17 times against France, eight fewer than their average on the Grand Slam Northern Tour.

France’s four tries left some question marks over the All Blacks’ defence, with the hosts tackling at 87 per cent and conceding 12 linebreaks. Barrett said there were flaws in New Zealand’s systems, but described the solutions as easy fixes.

“They use their big boys in the middle of the park, and their backs will swing to edges and overload. Oftentimes, you’ll have no one in front of you, and then two phases later, the whole backline’s swinging down your edge. If you haven’t created any width in your defensive line, and the overload’s coming, it can be hard to stop.

“We certainly didn’t get a lot of those edge decisions right. But we’ve got a few things in place to fix that, and we probably hadn’t spent as much time as we would’ve liked on the defensive side of the game last week. But those are areas that’ll be fixed pretty easily with a couple of touch-ups. It’s not all bad in that area.”

On attack, the Kiwis produced 11 linebreaks of their own and emerged from the contest with more post-contact metres from the exact same number of carries.

It was the first chance to see attack coach Mike Blair’s plan in action, with Barrett comparing the style of play to that of his club team, Super Rugby champions, the Hurricanes.

“It’s a small sample size, but he’s been nice, positive, bringing fresh ideas and a fearless notion around attack. In some ways, it’s pretty similar to the way we try to do things at the Hurricanes; similar attacking structure.

“We’re trying to use our big boys right across the park, use the width, extra passes. It’s positive, and we’ll need to keep growing it, because there’s perceived risk within that system, but there’s also a whole lot more opportunities that we’re creating too.”