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'The bus was deadly silent': Beauden Barrett talks ruthless quarter-final edge
By Ned Lester
Reflecting on the All Blacksā quarter-final preparations, Beauden Barrett has offered some insight into what contributed to New Zealandās most clinical performance in recent memory.
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Following in the footsteps of the great Dan Carter, who famously championed the āwalk towards pressureā mantra, Barrett and the All Blacks have a powerful history of mental skills and performing under the brightest lights in the rugby world.
The man who has driven those mental skills for the past 23 years is Gilbert Enoka, with assistance from Ceri Evans since 2010. Now, in his final Rugby World Cup with the team, Enokaās influence is as crucial as ever.
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Four years of underwhelming results since a semi-final exit at the 2019 World Cup put huge pressure on the team to perform against the world number one ranked Ireland. Luckily for the All Blacks, pressure is Enokaās bread and butter.
āSo much goes into a week in terms of preparation and how well you do that, itās evident on the weekend,ā Barrett told The Front Row Daily Show.
āBut, thereās certainly some gold nuggets with Ceri Evans and Gilbert Enoka in the mental space that was right on the money. With that, as well as the physical preparation, the boys were all in a good space going into the game. The bus was deadly silent and Gilbert has a good gauge on whether weāre in the house or not, and postgame he said he could feel it.
āThatās where we strive to get to every game day but it was win or go home, itās do or die footy, thereās something about that as well and we wanted another week. So, here we are.ā
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When Enoka started out with the All Blacks, he was assigned the job title of team masseur, a disguise for his true role which was as the teamās sports psychologist. The decoy title was employed because it was thought the use of a mental skills coach would project an inherent weakness in the team.
That stigma has since slowly eroded and sports psychology is now an essential component of any professional team.
Having earned a spot in the next round, the All Blacks are now shifting their focus to a familiar opponent in the semi-final.
āThereās still certainly a buzz around the camp. Weāre kind of in that transition phase now. All eyes on (Argentina).
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āWeāre just so grateful to be here and have another opportunity. Itās a final again for us, itās win or pretty much go home so thereās a good buzz.
āWe put so much into last week, a team that had scarred us in recent times so we felt like we needed to do it for ourselves to prove a point.ā
Barrett made no secret of his desire for revenge against Ireland after the famous Steinlager Series loss last year, and following the quarter-final win the fullback emphasised the importance of celebrating the achievement before looking ahead.
Having fully digested the win, the All Blacks now find themselves ready to focus on the task at hand.
āItās something we spoke about in the leadership meeting, itās about genuinely resetting and identifying the threat thatās in our way this week, Argentina.
āWe know what they can do, we felt that particularly in Christchurch last year. We know how passionate they are, we saw that in the Welsh game.
āTheyāre a team that have been under the radar but I think early in the week, we focus a lot on our detail but thatās also defensive detail so understanding what they bring, their threats, they are real threats, theyāre genuine.
āAnd itās a short turnaround so itās a busy couple of days getting that prep but late on in the week we just want to dump and play footy.ā
Go the All Blacks .. two hours to kick off for the ABs vs Pumas š
Apart from a couple of??? moments he showed that experience and stepped up against Ireland. I think the motivation ireland gave them from last year helped big time as well. Two games to goā¦no cards no injuries. Dave j
And while I donāt understand the phsyco babbleā¦this is why BB is still in the team. HE gets it and makes sure the young fellas do to. you just can't replace that inherent knowledge and mana.