Beauden Barrett responds to concerns around his goal kicking...sort of

Beauden Barrett believes New Zealand’s drawn series with the British and Irish Lions was the wake-up call the All Blacks needed as he rejected talk his disappointing goal-kicking had affected his confidence.

Fly-half Barrett missed five kicks in the final two Tests with the Lions, who came back from a convincing first Test defeat to win the second and claim a 15-15 draw in the series finale.

But the 26-year-old, fourth on the list of all-time All Blacks points scorers in Tests with 362, was quick to brush off questions over his form with the boot.

“I’ve been goal-kicking since I was six years old,” Barrett said ahead of their Rugby Championship opener with Australia on Saturday.

“I’ve always been analysing my technique and it’s no different to any other skill set.

“I’m excited about working on various areas of my game, and I’m excited about this weekend.”

Of the stalemate with the Lions, he added: “We were perhaps tested in areas where we haven’t been before, so that’s exactly what we wanted.

“We ask those hard questions of ourselves and of our team mates and it gets the best out of the team. It is just what we needed.”