Scott Barrett reflects on ‘demanding’ year as All Blacks captain

Weeks after the All Blacks’ season-ending win over Italy, Scott Barrett has reflected on a “trying year” as the team’s new captain. While some fans wanted to see Ardie Savea wear the figurative captain’s armband, Barrett was picked by coach Scott Robertson to lead the charge in 2024.

The All Blacks started their new era under coach ‘Razor’ Robetson with a thrilling 16-15 win over England in Dunedin, which was followed by another closely fought bout between the two international rugby heavyweights seven days later in Auckland.

New Zealand picked up a big win over Fiji before The Rugby Championship got underway with a disappointing 38-30 loss to Argentina in Wellington. South Africa handed their fierce rivals two more losses during that tournament; the All Blacks finished with a three-from-six record.

But there was a sense of intrigue as the All Blacks made their way off-shore for their end-of-year tour, starting with a test in Japan. The men in black followed that scintillating 64-19 triumph with statement wins over England and Ireland in the Autumn Nations Series.

The New Zealanders went down swinging 30-29 to France before bringing their season to a close with an 18-point victory over the Italians. With a 10-4 record, Barrett acknowledged it wasn’t a perfect campaign, but the skipper still made sure to mention what was “pleasing” about 2024.

“It’s certainly been a big year,” Barrett said, as the NZ Herald first reported. “It’s been a trying year on a personal note with injuries, and stepping into a role that’s pretty demanding at times.

“We didn’t get the results we were after, but it was pleasing to see the group grow as the year wore on… younger players stepping up.

“We finished on a reasonably strong tour, despite going down to France.”

Barrett led the All Blacks in 11 Tests after succeeding former skipper Sam Cane in the role. Cane had signed a multi-year deal in Japan which meant the captaincy baton would likely need to be passed on to either Barrett or Savea.

That made the All Blacks’ first squad announcement of Robertson’s tenure even more intriguing, with the former Crusaders duo continuing their leadership responsibilities together in the Test arena. But as history has shown, captaining both club and country is an almighty task.

The Crusaders revealed last month that Barrett has stepped down from the leadership position at the Super Rugby Pacific club, with a new skipper yet to be publicly appointed. Assistant coach Matt Todd did tell Scotty & Izzy that there’s “a clear candidate” moving forward.

Barrett didn’t have too much to say about the Crusaders’ captaincy while speaking as a Special Olympics ambassador, but after a “demanding” year as the All Blacks’ main man, the second rower remains confident that coach Rob Penney will select the right player for the job.

“I haven’t thought too much ahead to next year,” Barrett added.

“I had a chat with Rob (Penney), potentially dropping the captaincy and giving an opportunity for someone else to take that on into the 2025 season.

“Those conversations have been had, and whoever steps into that role, I’ll certainly support them. They’ll do a great job.”