Don’t lose your biscuit over Barrett’s kicking

If there’s a debate about who ought to kick goals for New Zealand, it’s not being ignited by Steve Hansen.

The All Blacks coach was hardly doing handstands, after Saturday’s night’s scrappy 39-22 win over Argentina in New Plymouth. But he was especially unimpressed by a suggestion that Beauden Barrett’s kicking form was a concern.

The first five-eighth missed three first-half conversion attempts from wide out, before Lima Sopoaga assumed the role and kicked fourfrom-five. Barrett can be a streaky kicker - one way or the other - and Saturday appeared to be one of those occasions when he didn’t strike them as well as he can.

Coaches tend to take an overall view with him, preferring to let him kick if it provides confidence for the rest of his game. Relieving a kicker of the tee be more trouble than it’s worth, undermining them in a way that’s not entirely necessary.

‘‘When he decides to have an off night he has an off night and that’s just something we’ll have to work our way through. Is it any more of a concern than it has been? No,’’ Hansen said.

Assistant coach Ian Foster agreed, before Hansen took the cudgels up again.

‘‘I didn’t hear too many people talking about him last week when we won the test match [against Australia in Dunedin] so you can’t have it both ways. Either talk him up when he kicks them, and talk him down when he misses them, but you can’t have one bite of the cake, you’ve got to have two bites.’’

Injury, plus his brother’s good form, meant Jordie Barrett became the Hurricanes’ predominant kicker this year. But Barrett kicked three conversions and two penalties in the opening Bledisloe Cup match of the season in Sydney, before converting all five of New Zealand’s tries in Dunedin.

Of more concern is the five yellow cards he’s now accumulated this year. There were two in the Hurricanes’ win over the Waratahs in April, another against the Blues the following week, a fourth in the semifinal loss to the Lions and a fifth against the Pumas.