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

Beauden Barrett of the Blues reacts during the round 11 Super Rugby match between Blues and Queensland Reds at One NZ Stadium, on April 25, 2026, in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
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In the end, Beauden Barrett got to be the hero for the Blues, slotting a regulation penalty from right in front to lift the side to a 36-33 Super Point victory over the Queensland Reds.

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The All Black great has had many moments like that over his illustrious career, but now more than ever, the question seems pressing. Is it time? Can he hold onto his All Black jersey playing like this?

Because in Christchurch on Saturday night there were inexplicable moments of bad decision-making despite eventually having the final say. It is baffling that a man of his calibre with 144 Tests seems to have no game management nous.

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With 10 minutes to go in the first half he fielded a kick in play destined to go into touch and decided to take the narrow outside lane like he still had the 2016 magic still in him. The result? Getting tackled direct into touch by Tim Ryan to hand the Reds prime attacking possession inside the Blues’ 22. There was no need to handle that ball, at all. The kick was not a 50-22 opportunity for the Reds. It was going into touch.

It was plays like this that kept the Reds breathing. The Blues were up 21-7 with nine minutes in the half remaining. Next thing you know the scores are level going into half-time and Barrett’s costly error gave the Reds the platform for one of those tries.

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. The kick didn’t even make it past where the ruck was. Surely, the right play was to starve the Reds off ball playing tight and close out the game 33-26.

That handover gave them one more shot, from which they scored and levelled the game again to go into Super Point extra time.

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

Ruben Love also decided late in the game against the Brumbies with the cue in the rack that he would produce some highlight plays. Let’s try some trick shots now.

In a month’s time Barrett will be 35 years old. His running game is gone, he doesn’t have the line breaking speed anymore. He can still pilot an attack shape and put runners into holes and hit the cross-field kick. But what good is that if he can’t manage risk in a game?

The win over the Springboks at Eden Park last year was a great showing by Barrett in the No.10 jersey. Had a hand in crafting the All Blacks tries and didn’t blow up the team by doing anything crazy.

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The loss to the Springboks the next week in Wellington was an awful one. He turned the ball over countless times inside his own half doing crazy things. Aside from the supersized risk-taking that night, inspection of the tape showed clear instances of missing the best option when going for it. Chip kicking for no one with overlaps begging, failing to pass on time with runners outside.

The Beauden Barrett from Eden Park is the one the All Blacks can use. The one from Wellington, that resurfaced again at Super Round for the Blues, is becoming un-selectable.

On form the two best 10s in New Zealand are Ruben Love, followed by Damian McKenzie. Richie Mo’unga returns to New Zealand later this year. Only three 10s will likely make the Rugby World Cup squad. At this stage the most likely to miss out is Barrett.

Barrett is on the verge of becoming the most capped All Black of all-time and the highest try scorer of all-time. He’s nine Tests away from Sam Whitelock’s 153 mark and three tries away from Doug Howlett’s 49.

He’ll go down as one of the all-time greats either way, but right now it’s it’s starting to feel like now more than ever the game’s gone and he won’t reach those milestones.

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4 Comments
P
PickOllieMathisOrKeepLosing,Rob. 21 mins ago

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

B
Bazzallina 50 mins ago

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

s
smartalec 1 hr ago

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.

G
GM 1 hr ago

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.

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