BARRETT TEES OFF

I’m at ease handing over kicking duties

All Blacks first five-eighths Beauden Barrett is not precious about handing over goalkicking duties if required.

Barrett, criticised in some quarters for the quality of his goalkicking, converted six-from-six in his last two matches against Argentina and South Africa, but when it came to the match winning kick against the Springboks in Pretoria, he was happy to let Richie Mo’unga step up.

Mo’unga converted the kick in the 32-30 win when playing at first-five with Barrett switching to fullback when the Crusaders No 10 came off the bench.

“On occasions when I’m perhaps not feeling particularly good about my kicking, I can easily hand over the tee and that’s something I’ve been conscious of,” Barrett told Martin Devlin on Newstalk ZB.

“It’s not something that will happen every test going forward — in fact, the last two times I’ve done it, I’ve been kicking really well. It’s just about figuring out how it works, and with Richie coming off the bench, he had fresh legs, too, so I enjoy going back to fullback and it’s certainly a different perspective and chance to be a driver of the team from the back.

“From a leadership point of view, it was also quite good to be able to help Rieko and Ben Smith in those huddles while Richie was kicking.”

Barrett, a two-time World Rugby Player of the Year at No 10, said he prefers first-five but is happy dropping to fullback later in games.

“Every game is different and it’s something we’ll look at when the team is named. Before the [Argentina] game, we hadn’t had a plan around what ifs, or the guy coming off the bench potentially taking over, so it’s important that everyone’s prepared.

“I feel most comfortable as a No 10, but starting in that position and going to the back — I enjoy that, too. I prefer to be in the first five-eighth position but I’m really just happy to be on the field.”

Barrett’s kicking accuracy, at around 70 per cent, is below-par by international standards. But his form across the last two tests has been perfect.

“When you can just calm that voice and eliminate all those external things and just be purely process driven, that’s where you want to be. There are times when you stand over the ball and feel better than others; doesn’t mean to say it’s going to affect the outcome, though.”

Barrett pointed to the cauldron of sound at Loftus Versfeld in New Zealand’s win last weekend.

“It was so loud, there were times when we couldn’t get the ball to where we wanted to, open up the game and take those opportunities.

“I was screaming in one instance to Aaron, who was less than 10 metres away, and he couldn’t hear me, so instead he hit the front runner and forwards and we missed an opportunity, so that’s what we’re dealing with where everyone is so local and the crowd are so involved.”

All Blacks flanker Sam Cane fractured a bone in his neck during the match and is expected to make a full recovery after a successful operation in South Africa.

“I don’t know a guy currently in our squad who puts their head in the dark places as much as Sammy does.

“He sat up, saw the stretcher on the field and put his hand out and I helped him up and was like ‘shit, he must be all right here’.

“But he didn’t want to be stretchered off, he wanted to walk off himself, and it wasn’t until after the game where I thought ‘where’s Sammy?’ and heard he’d gone to hospital.

“I can’t speak enough about how tough he is and I’m really glad it’s nothing too serious from a neurology point of view.”