There are genuine concerns over Beauden Barrett's All Black days

I couldn't believe the NZRFU signed him until the World Cup. He’s been a great servant to NZ Rugby but his best days are way behind him. After the Lions shut him down in that series I don’t think he’s offered much more. His pace has definitely disappeared. Still he’s had a fantastic career

I'd love to know how Tony Brown analyzes our 10s when he sits down with the Boks. Brown will know the strengths and weaknesses of each All Black game driver inside out. How do they plan to shut each of our 10s down?

Brilliantly skilled rugby player. Hasn't ever been a test match 10.

Neither Barrett nor McKenzie have shown to be a good game manager over a decade.

What they were both once was extraordinary athletes with world class pace and running skills that could make extraordinary plays.

But Barrett no longer has exceptional pace and truth be told, he does not at all like to run the ball and hates getting tackled. He now over compensates by kicking all the time cross kicks and chips hoping to hit the big play as he use to with his legs pre-2023 RWC. The kicks fail far more than they succeed and usually give away both possession and field position.

McKenzie is 4 years younger, still has his pace and running skills, and does one thing very well that Barrett has never done at a competent level- goal kicking.

Start Rueben Love at 10 for the Nations Cup tests vs France, Italy, and Ireland. Have McKenzie on the bench as 10/15 cover, a role he excels at, and if Love plays well in the Nations Cup tests, especially against Ireland, start him in South Africa in the test matches.

If Love does not perform well in the Nations Cup, start Mo’unga in South Africa in the URC matches and when he performs well, and he will, promote him to the tests.

In my view, the starting 10 jersey is Love’s to lose with Mo’unga plan B, McKenzie super sub off bench, and Barrett retired from test rugby.

If you need a fourth 10 for the SA Tour for URC matches, select Josh Jacombs or Rivez Reihana BEFORE they sign overseas.

I'm surprised it's taken so long for the NZ pundits to realize that Barrett has been way past his best for 3 or 4 years

been at least two years now that we should have started phasing Beauden out… today, he shows more weaknesses than strengths when he plays. I no longer trust his game. Too many kicks made carelessly…

And he no longer has that speed that made his magic just 3 or 4 years ago.

Beauden Barrett was never a great game-managing fly-half, but he made up for that major weakness in the role with his brilliance… especially his runs.

He was a great champion, a great player, but his time is over, and that is now obvious. It remains to be seen how Rennie will handle him. Will he keep him as a 3rd or 4th option, or move on from him for good? We’ll find out in a few months.

He’s still making the next World Cup. Too experienced not to, plus he covers 10 and 15. Won’t be the no 1 pick, but handy squad member for injury cover and pool games.

Just quietly his best days are… quite a few years behind him… He’s ranged from ok to terrible the last few years. His time has come & them some!

Totally agree, BB is not a true No. 10, but he never had been.

Do All Blacks just not take Super Rugby that seriously? Do we just discount all this because it’s not Test level?

You’ve noticed this too? He really does give off these vibes. “I’ve achieved everything…Im just having a laugh now”

Barrett has developed his short kicking and kick passes and they can be great, but hes no longer the guy to be chasing them. However he never had a long tactical kicking game. We glossed it because his attacking running and flair moments made up for it, but if he's selected for being the steady old hand that doesn't make mistakes he's lacking the main skill needed for that role, long tactical. Kiwi 10s haven't been great at it in general since mehrtens but certainly he doesn't have it.

It was a bit of a shock to hear Tim horan say Barrett was the best player on the field, not sure what game he was watching but after many disappointing choices and yet more aimlessly kicking the ball away I'm sure it wasn't the same game I was watching.

Beauden is past it, hes aimlessly kicking the ball away to knowhere and is not running like he used to. We dont want a 36yo doing that at the 2027, just look how Sexton went. Need to develop these young players and give them a shot.

He will definitely be there next year at the World Cup as part of the squad, he earns too much to not be. I still think he’s the best game manager out of all the Kiwi 10s, although his place is under scrutiny with multiple players in the running obviously. There is only 20 or so test matches to go before the World Cup, is putting a completely untried player like Love in the saddle the right decision? We know how the Kiwi media and some fans react to every loss, is he ready for that from a mental perspective? Still not convinced as a player he is the best option at 10.

About time we saw an article about Beauden’s aimless kicking, shovel passing and stupid running options. Yes he has the odd good game, but they’re becoming rarer and rarer by the year.

We constantly see articles from journalists (especially at the NZ Herald and Stuff) that deride DMac for his faults while ignoring the positive things he has done, such as the wonderful controlled performance against Ireland in Dublin in 2024, his clutch goal kicking against England at Twickenham in 2024, and his late try and two kicks versus Scotland in 2025.

And yet those same people completely forget or gloss over Beauden’s faults at the same time.

I’m all for writing articles that identify a player’s issues at test level, but there has been an uneven bias against DMac and for BB that it has become borderline favouritism and bias.

DMac, Love and Mo’unga should be the three first-five options for this year. BB is done.

Haha this is so funny. BB is bau. TIm Ryan is a dynamic player, he would have got him at pretty much any stage of his career, his type is BBs kryptonite.

If that wasn’t enough, right at the death he cleared the lines from inside his 22, booting the ball into touch with 90 seconds remaining instead of winding down the clock.

So you want him to run it out from deep inside his ingoal?

On something relevant, McReight ruined what could have been a great finish to that game, including giving BB a chance to clinch it.

Should’ve been out of the ABs years ago. Surely he doesn’t get picked this year.

Still around the group atm but 3rd imo and could be 4th when Richie returns by time of the tour but all 4 if fit and available ( in Richie case allowed?) they will all go at the expense of an outside back but by time of WC next year 4 10s would be overkill imo 3 is enough ABs have missed the boat with Love ( tho injuries did not help) and not giving him more starts at 15 and after a few at 10

Beauden has been a great player for a long time, but its time to move on. RM and Dmac are also on the wrong side of 30, we need to give Love a chance now. We won’t know how good he is at international level until we give him a chance.

Well said, BS. Most pundits seem awed into praising Beuden, overlooking the many dire decisions he makes in favour of the increasingly few that come off. His kicking seems aimless most of the time - like he can’t think of anything else to do so he just belts it back up the middle. He’s right not to trust his running game any more - his legs and brain can get him into the right positions in the back field, but the kind of incisive break Love made, taking on the line, we just don’t see any more. So his choice to run seems like an afterthought too, or he’s just out of options.

In the subtext of that interview that Dan Carter did with Martin Devlin, Dan seems to be saying it’s time for a change to the young talent: he talked about understudying greats Mehrtens and Spencer for a season or two, then being given the reins, sink or swim, on the northern tour. Time for Rennie and Co to do the same in July against France, Italy and Ireland: start Love and have DMac come off the bench. With a bit of luck, by the time Mo’unga is available, we’ll not be completely dependent on him firing straight away.

Beuden has been a great player - thank him for his service and let him go. He could still get some big pay days in Japan, and free some NZR money for younger talent that we’re increasingly desperate to keep.