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All black people Greats Justin Marshall and Kieran Read responded to Beauden Barrett’s outstanding performance in the 43-21 win over the Wallabies, with the 147-Test veteran turning heads with two tries at Accor Stadium.
Barrett didn’t appear at all during the course Nations Championship Tests in July and played just nine minutes off the bench during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series. But with Ruben Love and Richie Mo’unga unavailable, Dave Rennie turned to the experienced playmaker for the Bledisloe Cup.
Damian McKenzie moved from fullback to the first five ahead of the Bledisloe Cup Test at Eden Park, seeing Barrett wear number 15. It marked Barrett’s first appearance in the New Zealand league since Autumn Nations Series conflict with England last November.
Barrett retained that spot in the First XV for Bledisloe II in Sydney, and in 2015 Rugby World Cup the winner had a game-defining impact in the first half. The 35-year-old showed some quick feet to score the All Blacks’ second try, completing the double just before half-time.
Rennie spoke after the game about the importance of Barrett’s second tackle, which saw the fullback deflect a pass and race 60 meters to the house. It would have been a 15-point ball game if the Wallabies had scored, but some individual brilliance saw ‘Baz’ go the other way.
“For me it was Beauden Barrett’s performance,” Marshall said further The Good, The Bad & The Rugby Australia and New Zealand.
“A guy who’s been under a lot of pressure and where does he actually fit into the mix over the next few years? Is he worth the end-of-year tour? Is he a World Cup prospect? And exactly what jersey is he in? Does he just come in when others are injured or does he actually have something to add? I thought he added at the weekend.
“When your team works like that and you’re in first place, it’s a lot easier, but you still have to do things. I like the way he came out with a really positive attitude to get into the game.
“You can sometimes, when you’re under pressure, be guilty of not wanting to make a mistake and leave yourself out of the game, whereas he was going after the ball, looking for and getting into the first, second receiver role from the running back, and then equally putting himself in positions where he could be a threat.
“Two of those times were tries. One of them, when he came off (Cam) Roigard on the right as the first receiver, a bit of show-go footwork, through, deflected, from the All Blacks from a great one from (Peter) Lakai.
“Then the second try, that’s the genius of Beauden Barrett. The fact that he was able to get into the space that the Wallabies could attack … it was an overlap but he stood there, got into the space and then he had the presence of mind.”
Former All Blacks captain Read, who won the 2015 World Cup alongside Barrett, echoed what Marshall said about the quality of the batting. Barrett carried the ball a dozen times, ran a team-high 120 yards, and finished with an even five tackles.
“He’s a world-class player… yes, he won’t have potentially the same amount of touches that we’ve seen or the absolute pace, but he’s got the vision, he sees the game and I can guarantee he sees the game a lot better than even what he was 10 years ago,” added Read.
“It’s only through experience that you get it, you get it. He’s someone who actually leads the team so he has a voice. We underestimate the importance as a fullback of just doing so much work with your wing players, pulling the strings, looking for space, letting (Damian McKenzie) know what’s going on.
“That’s all he can do right is perform when given that opportunity.”
