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'Phenomenal' Jordie Barrett shines in first midfield opportunity for All Blacks

Jordie Barrett. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

The All Blacks have thumped the Wallabies in Auckland to keep their chances of Rugby Championship glory alive but there was a bigger picture to consider at Eden Park on Saturday night.

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With the World Cup in France next year, the All Blacks now have little more than half a dozen Tests left to play before they go to battle with Les Bleus in the flagship competition’s curtain-raiser.

While some players have likely already secured their place in the team’s top line-up, there’s still a major question mark surrounding the centres. Anton Lienert-Brown is the most senior midfielder in the country but has spent the entirety of the Test calendar to date sidelined through injury while Rieko Ioane has stood out at times but is perhaps still best suited to the wing.

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A tactical shift in recent weeks has been kind to David Havili but it’s the man who started in the No 12 jersey at Eden Park that is perhaps the best option for the All Blacks.

While Jordie Barrett has locked down a starting role at fullback for NZ over the past 18 months, there are many who believe he’s best suited to the midfield, where he can make use of his playmaking capabilities as well as his sizeable frame. In some ways, he could act as both a traditional second five-eighth – like an Aaron Mauger – and a blockbusting ball-carrier, a la Ma’a Nonu in his earlier years.

In his first start in the midfield for the All Blacks on Saturday night, Barrett showed off both those sides of his game against the Wallabies.

When deep inside the 22, Barrett’s boot was used to great effect to send raking kicks down the field, while he was also regularly called upon to truck the ball up when the All Blacks needed to generate some momentum.

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Come the end of the match, Barrett had chalked up 17 runs – the most of any player on the field and seven more than the next busiest ball-carrier – as well as seven beaten defenders and four offloads. As far as first Tests go, it was a remarkable performance from a man who had already proven himself at Super Rugby level but has now shown what he can do in the international arena.

Unsurprisingly, All Blacks coach Ian Foster was over the moon with Barrett’s showing at No 12.

“I’m delighted with what Jordie gave us today,” he said. “I thought he had a phenomenal gave really. He was really physical with the ball, without the ball, he worked hard, he got some kicks in. He should be very proud of that effort.”

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All Blacks fans shouldn’t necessarily expect a permanent change in the backline, however, with Foster noting that the 25-year-old was also happy in the No 15 jersey and made it clear that Havili’s development in the midfield had also impressed throughout the season.

“I don’t know that he’s told me he’s been waiting a wee while to start at 12,” he said. “He loves playing for the All Blacks so he loves whatever jersey we give him.”

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Regardless, Barrett’s impressive performance will be something Foster has taken note of. The All Blacks have four games left to play in 2022, with matches to come against Japan, Scotland, Wales and England, and Barrett could be asked to further showcase his talents in the midfield – especially with his older brother Beauden operating with aplomb at fullback on Saturday night.

For now, however, the Barretts and their teammates will take a well-earned rest before kicking back into action in late October.

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Comments

5 Comments
C
Connor 772 days ago

Give me:De Groot. Taukei'aho. Lomax
Whitelock. Rettallick
Frizell. Savea. Papalii
Smith
Mo'Unga
J. Barrett. ALB
R. Ioane Reece
Jordan

by the time the WC is upon us. No issues if you want S. Barrett over Frizell or if you want to to keep Rieko in the midfield, Jordan on the wing and Beady at FB. But I think this is our most dynamic team and also very strong defensively

J
Jmann 772 days ago

He's probably both NZ's best 15 and 12 in truth. He doesn't have Jordan's attacking prowess - but he is a far, far better defender than Jordan and a superior kicker as well. These are a 15s primary roles. Along with Savea the first name on the team sheet.

If ALB can find form again - it is Ioane that will need to shift - not Barrett.

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F
Flankly 48 minutes ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
N
Nickers 57 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

43 Go to comments
N
Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

43 Go to comments
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