The night Beaudenism became a religion
Right now, one player more than ever symbolises the exciting brand of rugby that the All Blacks are known for. Beauden Barrett stands head and shoulders above all others in the first five position, but it hasn’t always been that way in his storied 61 test career.
The dawn of the latest Barrett era took many by surprise. It seems as if no established player has had such a rapid ‘second’ ascension and change of public perception as much as he’s had in the last year and a half.
It’s easy to forget that last June it was Aaron Cruden who was the front-runner to take the All Blacks 10 jersey forward to the next World Cup. Cruden, the man who had left the Hurricanes and gone to the Chiefs, opening the door for Barrett to play Super Rugby. Cruden, the regular starter when Carter was out injured, leaving Barrett’s first rise to public attention in a niche role: a ‘super-sub’ impact player.
For a while there it seemed as though Barrett might be the archetype replacement, destined to play the vast majority of his test career off the bench. It certainly appeared that way for the first few years – since his All Blacks debut in 2012 Barrett started just two of his first 21 tests.
However, that all changed after one crazy month in 2016.
Race for the throne
The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the end of an era for New Zealand rugby. The victory was a swansong for a number of generational players, including Dan Carter. He sailed off for a retirement pay-day in the France, leaving a three horse race for the 10 jersey.
Cruden was the short favourite to become ‘the guy’ despite missing World Cup selection, with Barrett and Lima Sopoaga well and truly in the picture as contenders. Cruden’s resume was still the pick of the bunch – he had taken the Chiefs franchise to back-to-back Super Rugby titles and had started 23 tests.
To start 2016, the Chiefs had found a two-headed monster in Aaron Cruden and Damian McKenzie that set Super Rugby alight. The calm, experienced Cruden was the perfect foil for the wild pinball machine play of McKenzie.
Although Cruden wore the 10 jersey, both players shared first receiver duties – freeing up the other to float around and pop-up where they desired. The Chiefs were scoring points by the bucket loads and led the competition heading into the June test series break. Naturally, Cruden’s form gave him the first shot at the All Blacks 10 jersey.
The night Beaudenism became a religion
Following the unconvincing 39-21 win over Wales in the first test in Auckland, the stage was set for something to happen. The All Blacks weren’t their usual dominant outfit. It didn’t seem like things were clicking and there was a certain uneasiness in the air around Kiwi fans.
The second test would change the future path of New Zealand rugby and can be pinpointed as the beginning of Barrett’s stranglehold on the first five position.
After 32 minutes, Cruden was forced from the field with a neck injury. A stalemate was unfolding – after 50 minutes at 10-all the All Blacks were struggling to put away Wales.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
Barrett would be the spark, breaking two tackles on halfway, fending away the first defender and running through a weak arm tackle before sending Ben Smith down the right touchline untouched.
Three minutes later, attacking the Welsh line, Barrett cut back past Welsh centre Davies, fended another and went over to score in the midst of a third tackle.
Barrett’s five-minute cameo sparked a fury of All Blacks points, burying the Welsh 36-10 before a late comeback made the scoreline more respectable.
That night began the turning of the tide, building momentum towards Barrett surpassing Cruden in the pecking order. The next month of Super Rugby would confirm that.
The end of the drought
After the June test break the Chiefs, who were so dominant all year long, had a momentary lapse in form at the last hurdle in the regular season. This setting off a chain of events which would see them lose the New Zealand conference, which crucially gave Barrett’s Hurricanes home ground advantage for the 2016 playoffs.
Barrett would be instrumental in the 25-9 dismantling of the Chiefs in the home semi-final, setting up one try with a miraculous chip and chase and scoring an intercept. His out-of-hand kicking in wet conditions in the final led the Hurricanes to their first ever Super Rugby title, with Barrett scoring the decisive and only second-half try against the Lions.
Barrett’s stocks were at an all-time high, leading to the ‘easy decision’ by Steve Hansen to start Barrett over Cruden in the first Bledisloe test in Sydney. Barrett rewarded Hansen’s decision with a man-of-the-match performance.
Barrett-mania would go into overdrive after a Rugby Championship in which his hot form continued – seven try assists, four tries, the most run metres and most defenders beaten. A successful end of year tour followed before the cherry on top – World Rugby naming Barrett the world’s best player in 2016.
In one season Barrett won the Super Rugby title, Bledisloe Cup, The Rugby Championship and World Player of the Year – mirroring the feats of Dan Carter’s 2005 season.
Barrett was 25-years-old and had made the quantum leap to world’s best player – all in a six-month stretch.
Fork in the road
Barrett announced mid-way through the 2016 Rugby Championship he had re-signed with the Hurricanes and NZR on a three-year deal extending his stay until 2019.
Shortly after, Cruden announced in January of 2017 he had signed a record three-year deal with Montpellier. A dramatic, sharp and irreversible change of paths was complete – Cruden’s move offshore would end any chance of surpassing Barrett again.
It seems it can all be traced back to the night where Cruden’s injury against Wales as a turning point. If that never happened, is Barrett starting now? If Cruden won his third title with the Chiefs, does he retain his starting spot?
It was this series of improbable coincidences that aligned for Barrett’s opportunity to appear so quickly, and he seized it with both hands. While it’s true that Cruden opened the door for Barrett, it’s equally so that Barrett shut the door on Cruden behind him.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe 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
3 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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 comments