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Beauden Barrett reveals immediate departure to Japan after final All Blacks test

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

All Blacks playmaker Beauden Barrett is set to depart for Japan at the conclusion of the Rugby Championship, where he will remain ahead of his 2021 campaign with Suntory Sungoliath.

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The Blues utility back along with wife Hannah and new-born daughter Billie will head north after the All Blacks’ last Tri Nations test against Argentina in Newcastle on Saturday.

The match is a must-win for New Zealand if they have any hope of claiming the tournament’s silverware.

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As duties on the field dwindle, Barrett’s tasks with his daughter – whom he’s left with Hannah to look after for almost a month now – will increase tenfold.

When asked if he was enjoying his last few nights of uninterrupted sleep, Barrett was quick to respond with a stern “yes”.

“We’ll be going up to Japan together next week so I can’t wait for that. I think we have two weeks in isolation up there, so have got plenty of time to take over and give Han a break. I’m really looking forward to that,” he added.

Barrett’s time upon arrival in Japan will precede his link-up with Suntory Sungoliath. In July the playmaker signed a $1.5 million deal with the Japanese Top League side for 2021, which aligns with his option to take a sabbatical as part of a four-year deal with New Zealand rugby.

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The tournament kicks off on January 16, giving Barrett a month and a half to relax in quarantine and with family before his first competitive run out on Japanese soil.

That means he will not play a game in New Zealand until next year’s international season.

Aside from a potentially mesmerising performance this weekend, Barrett will head to the land of the rising sun with a bit of work to do, by his own standards.

“I aim for perfection, but I know that it’s not achievable so I’m always working to be better each day,” he said.

“I’m happy with where we’re getting to at the start of the year with the Blues and excited by the potential we have there. With the All Blacks, it’s been great to have some games, locking up the Bledisloe was huge and we’ve now got an opportunity to win the Tri Nations.

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“Just enjoying each day as it comes.”

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J
JW 1 hour ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

This piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.


I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.


Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.


The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.

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LONG READ 'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame' 'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame'
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