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Beauden Barrett sets phenomenal personal best time in fitness drill as Blues resume training

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

All Blacks star Beauden Barrett has returned from lockdown in peak condition as the Blues returned to training on Monday ahead of the upcoming Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign.

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It’s been more than two months since the Auckland franchise played their last match against the Lions at Eden Park on March 14 after Super Rugby was suspended due to international travel restrictions enforced because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The five New Zealand franchises resumed training on Monday, though, and the Blues welcomed their backs to their Alexandra Park base in Epsom to kickstart their pre-season with a fitness test known as the Bronco.

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Nemani Nadolo on leaving France for the Leicester Tigers

The drill, which is used as a measurement of aerobic endurance, sees players run shuttles of 20 metres, 40 metres and 60 metres five times over as quickly as possible.

After having cleared a contactless temperature check from team doctor James McGarvey, all members of the Blues’ self-described ‘Backs Bubble’ embarked on the gut-busting test in a video posted on the club’s social media channels.

The Blues claimed that eight personal bests were set during the drill, with new playmaking recruit Barrett leading the pack with a rapid time of four minutes and 12 seconds in what the franchise indicated was a new club record.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CAT0qryFtLt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

By comparison, former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw’s best time in the 1.2km test was four minutes 56 seconds, according to rugbysmart.co.nz.

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“PB [personal best], mate, always happy with a PB,” a short-breathed Barrett said at the finish line. “I don’t know how much kicking I’ll be doing after this, though.”

Barrett, who is still yet to make his Blues debut after transferring from the Hurricanes on a four-season deal last year, was closely followed by halfback Jono Ruru, who completed the drill just two seconds after the two-time World Rugby player of the year.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CATkjw4ggql/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Elsewhere, the Crusaders returned to training in Christchurch, with numerous players telling Newshub of their excitement to be back in action upon arrival at the club’s training ground.

“I have young children at home so it’s been awesome to spend some quality time with them,” loose forward Whetu Douglas said.

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“I’m loving this though – been excited all morning and been here a couple of hours waiting to get in.

“It’s good to be back.”

Super Rugby Aotearoa kicks off on June 13 when the Highlanders host the Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.

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J
JW 42 minutes 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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