Why Beauden Barrett's possible return doesn't concern the Wallabies
Beauden Barrett and Eden Park hold no fears for the Wallabies as they bid to bust a 34-year hoodoo and blow the 2020 Bledisloe Cup series wide open on Sunday.
It’s been documented hundreds of times that the Wallabies haven’t won at New Zealand’s rugby fortress since 1986 and breaking the drought with Barrett back on deck only decreases the chances of a boilover.
The blistering fullback has been Australia’s chief tormentor in recent years, bobbing up seemingly on cue to break Wallabies hearts over and over with his mesmerising attack and deadly boot.
Barrett was a late scratching from last Sunday’s thrilling 16-16 draw in Wellington with an achilles injury but is expected to be named on Friday by under-pressure coach Ian Foster.
Despite Damian McKenzie’s underwhelming display deputising for Barrett, Wallabies forwards coach Geoff Parling played down the likely return of the two-times world player of the year.
“He’s obviously a good player, but the other guys that are in there are good players so I wouldn’t make it more than what it is if he comes back in,” Parling said when asked how Australia’s forwards could help nullify Barrett’s influence in Auckland.
“He’ll be replacing someone else who is a very good player. In terms of forwards nullifying him, we can do our job up front and try to reduce the quality of ball he has can certainly help.”
Parling also scotched talk that Eden Park, where the All Blacks haven’t lost to anyone let alone to Australia since 1994, could be a daunting prospect for the Wallabies.
“It’s certainly not, no. It’s just a rugby pitch,” he said.
More importantly, the Wallabies need to improve at the set pieces, especially lineout time after failing to even contest the first few in Wellington.
Parling, though, defended Australia’s locks Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Matt Philip.
“Look, people are saying a couple of lineouts were lost, but they lost a couple as well,” Parling said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGWKWp9n0zD/
“I was happy with them both. I thought they both played well. Certainly some of the carrying work in the tight, just from leg drive to get us over the gain line was pretty important.”
Both sides are backing up just seven days from an epic encounter that stretched almost 90 minutes and Parling said the challenge was as much mental as physical for the Wallabies.
“It depends on your mindset. If you tell yourself it’s tough, it’s going to be tough,” he said.
“But if you tell yourself you’re about to play New Zealand in Auckland, you should be OK.
“It’s the same for both teams. I wouldn’t read into things more than they are. We’ve played a hard test match, some guys have played some long minutes, so have they.
“We’ll get guys fresh, make sure we recover and we’ll get prepped and go again.”
– Darren Walton
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments