Why All Blacks star Scott Barrett is about to go to new level for the Crusaders
By Patrick McKendry, NZ Herald
At 26 years old and with 36 test caps, new Crusaders captain Scott Barrett is about to take his game to the next level this season and beyond.
Well, he will if the man he is replacing – Sam Whitelock – is any guide. Whitelock’s leadership will be missed at the Crusaders during his season in Japan – not to mention his unique skills and grunt – but coach Scott Robertson has shown time and again over the past three years that he is capable of bringing the best out of his players and the captaincy should serve to help this with Barrett.
Whitelock will return to New Zealand for the July test series against Wales and Scotland and is in the running along with Chiefs loose forward Sam Cane to be the next All Blacks skipper. If he gets the job Barrett may well keep the captaincy of the Crusaders in order to lighten the load a little as happened with Richie McCaw and Kieran Read, both of whom relinquished the Crusaders captaincy when given what is seen as one of the most important jobs in the country.
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Robertson appointed Whitelock as his captain when he took over in 2017 and the big lock, already a consistent performer for the red and blacks, thrived. He has always been known to have an excellent rugby brain but his natural ability to know when an opposing team was vulnerable and when to make a slightly more defensive decision probably surprised even his closest advisors.
Whitelock’s excellent decision-making, along with that of his significant helpers Read, Ryan Crotty and Matt Todd, all of whom have now departed, was a common thread running through the team’s incredible run of success over the past three years.
Barrett’s added responsibility should help an already consistent and highly-motivated individual raise his game in similar fashion, and, with Brodie Retallick away on sabbatical for the rest of the year, it could set him up for a standout year in the black jersey.
Barrett had a mixed year in 2019, with a finger injury keeping him out of the Super Rugby final and a red card against the Wallabies in Perth a big reason for one of the All Blacks’ worst ever Bledisloe Cup defeats.
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The gamble of playing him at blindside flanker against England in the World Cup semifinal backfired badly but all of those setbacks are likely to sharpen his focus as he helps his team in their attempt to win a remarkable four titles in a row.
Their mission starts today with a match in Nelson against the Waratahs.
Robertson said this week that most of his departed players had kept in touch with the team, including Whitelock, who was eager to be kept up to speed.
“They send messages and make sure everyone’s okay,” Robertson said. “Sam’s a good man, I wouldn’t call him a control freak but he likes to know what’s going on. Scooter has been outstanding – he’s slipped straight into the role.
“He’s a quiet leader, he’ll chip in where he needs to. We have a lot of voices. We have two vice-captains in David Havili and Codie Taylor who will be exceptional for him, they’ll give him a good balance. His leading will be in his performances on the field.”
Crusaders team to play the Waratahs at Nelson’s Trafalgar Park on Saturday, kick-off 7.05pm is: 15. David Havili, 14. Will Jordan, 13. Braydon Ennor, 12. Jack Goodhue, 11. Leicester Faingaanuku, 10. Richie Mo’unga, 9. Mitchell Drummond, 8. Whetukamokamo Douglas, 7. Tom Christie, 6. Tom Sanders, 5. Mitchell Dunshea, 4. Scott Barrett (c), 3. Oliver Jager, 2. Andrew Makalio, 1. George Bower.
Reserves: 16. Codie Taylor 17. Isi Tu’ungafasi 18. Michael Alaalatoa 19. Luke Romano 20. Cullen Grace 21. Bryn Hall 22. Brett Cameron 23. Sevu Reece.
Waratahs: 15. Kurtley Beale, 14. Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13. Lalakai Foketi, 12. Karmichael Hunt, 11. Alex Newsome, 10. Will Harrison, 9. Jake Gordon, 8. Jed Holloway, 7. Michael Hooper, 6. Lachlan Swinton, 5. Rob Simmons (c), 4. Tom Staniforth, 3. Tetera Faulkner, 2. Robert Abel, 1. Tom Robertson.
Reserves: 16. Damien Fitzpatrick, 17. Angus Bell, 18. Chris Talakai, 19. Ryan Mccauley, 20. Jack Dempsey, 21. Carlo Tizzano, 22. Mitch Short, 23. Jack Maddocks.
This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and was republished with permission.
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Comments on RugbyPass
And the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
13 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
21 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
13 Go to comments