DUEL WITH ‘INFLUENTIAL’ SEXTON EXCITES BARRETT
NEW ZEALAND star Beauden Barrett is relishing Saturday’s showdown with fellow fly-half Johnny Sexton. Barrett and Sexton have enjoyed stellar seasons and have both made the shortlist for the prestigious World Player of the Year award. The pair will head to Monte Carlo for the red carpet ceremony later this month, but there is the small matter of a Test match in Dublin before that. And Barrett, who has been named the best player on the planet for the past two seasons, heaped praise on his fellow No 10. ‘He’s a great player, very skilful and very influential for the Irish team,’ he said. ‘We are both similar. We are both lucky to be on the back of two great packs and two great nines, so yeah, I always look forward to the match-up. ‘Once again I don’t get too caught up on one-on-one matchups. It’s the All Blacks against Ireland. ‘Johnny, he’s not afraid of pulling the trigger. He can execute some pretty good plays. ‘He likes to give the ball space. So, I guess we are similar in that space, be it a cross-field kick or a big pass. Yeah, he just has a great set of skills.’ Speaking of Sexton, New Zealand assistant coach Ian Foster could not resist stirring things up ahead of this weekend’s blockbuster at Lansdowne Road. Ireland’s vice captain suggested earlier this week that the hosts will need to stay on the right side of referee Wayne Barnes, having had problems with the Englishman’s officiating in the past. Foster was having none of it yesterday and came to the whistler’s defence. ‘I’m not sure why he says that, Barnesy is a great ref,’ he said. ‘Johnny seems to give them [referees] a bit of advice on the park too so I’m sure he will carry on doing that,’ Foster continued. Barrett admitted New Zealand still bear scars from their Chicago defeat to Ireland and have remained increasingly wary of Schmidt’s men since. ‘They’re a smart team, they’ll throw a few things at us we’ve never seen before,’ he said. ‘They’re playing well, they’re very creative, so that gets us in a good mental spot for this coming week and whenever we play them in future. ‘When you do lose in an All Black jersey it’s never nice. We can draw from those experiences, just a small reminder of how we felt in that changing room, to always respect Ireland.’