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Beauden Barrett consoles brother: 'I reminded him that he's not a dirty player'

New Zealand's Scott Barrett is sent off against Australia (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Liam Napier / NZ Herald

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In the immediate aftermath of the record All Blacks defeat and horror Bledisloe debut in Perth, Beauden Barrett is attempting to support brother Scott as he comes to grips with his controversial sending off.

Crusaders lock Scott, making his return to the test arena from a broken finger, copped a red card from Jerome Garces after the French referee deemed Barrett’s no-arms tackle on Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, lunging low for the line at the time, warranted the ultimate punishment.

Scott Barrett’s exit just before half time forced the All Blacks to scramble one man short for the entire second half. In the end, they conceded six tries to a rampant Wallabies side – the final 47-26 scoreline representing the most points the All Blacks have conceded in test history.

Beauden Barrett indicated his younger brother was grappling with his clumsy attempted tackle on Hooper, and subsequent punishment, which now leaves his initial World Cup fate in the hands of the judiciary.

“I was sitting next to him in the changing room. Obviously, he’s really disappointed and carrying a lot of responsibility on his shoulders at the moment but these things happen we’ve just got to get around him,” Beauden said.

“I reminded him that he’s not a dirty player and he realises that, too, so he’s just disappointed in himself. He’s taking responsibility but these things can happen especially when you’re defending close to the line and players do get in a low position.

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“We’re obviously very disappointed with the outcome. We can learn a lot from tonight. The good thing about this opportunity is we get next week to start again and hopefully win the Bledisloe because that’s what we came here to do.”

Despite Scott Barrett’s sending off the All Blacks were, for the third time this season, well short of expected standards.

They conceded eight penalties to the Wallabies’ four; defence around the ruck was exposed throughout by influential Australian halfback Nic White, and they were physically outmuscled at times.

“We knew they’d retain a lot of possession and build phases. We can’t give them piggybacks out of their half – our discipline was not good enough early on. It’s hard when you’re 10 points down so early on.

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“It’s individual errors. It could be too psyched up maybe or still not getting over a previous error but as individuals, we have to take accountability we can’t let ourselves or the team down and allow a team like the Wallabies to own possession and starve us of the ball which we saw tonight.

“The Wallabies are too good a side to not be patient and make basic errors so we need to treasure that ball.”

Such a defeat, and the continued, disjointed start to the season, will spark nerves among anxious supporters, with the All Blacks now having two tests to regain form and cohesion before departing for the World Cup in Japan.

But should they rectify mistakes and retain a 15 against 15 battle at Eden Park this week, the All Blacks remain confident of squaring the ledger to retain the coveted Bledisloe, a trophy they have held for the past 16 years.

“There were periods, particularly the third quarter, where we built some phases and pressure and got points even with 14 men on the park. The key is our discipline and allowing us to have as many opportunities with ball in hand as possible.

“We have to get tight, take it on the chin and get excited about it again. We know how much the Bledisloe means to us and how much we want to retain it. There may be finger-pointing but it’s not blaming it for the benefit of the team and putting those wrongs right to improve.”

Anton Lienert-Brown, one of few bright sparks for the All Blacks in the midfield, echoed Barrett’s resolve to deliver a definitive response this week.

“We make no excuses and we expect ourselves to win with one less man,” Lienert-Brown said. “It wasn’t good enough tonight but there was good stuff in amongst that. We’re looking forward to the challenge next week. The Bledisloe means a lot to us. Obviously tonight hurt but we’ll hit back hard.

“We’re not going to panic and try change the world. We’ve got to trust in our systems and believe in them. From there it’s going to hurt. We’ll have a very honest review I’m guessing.”

This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission.

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Tom 6 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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