Barrett keeps raising bar as prince of 10s
ABOUT the only person in the rugby world not blown away by the Beauden Barrett show right now might just be Beauden Barrett himself.
The rest of us remain slackjawed by the playmaker’s extraordinary formline which is showing no signs of dipping below the spectacular. It’s almost unthinkable to ponder, but the 25-year-old reigning world player of the year might just be in the process of topping his feats from 2016.
Indications so far are that the man widely recognised as the best player on the planet might just be taking his game to a new level. Certainly the consistency with which he is racking up the remarkable is not only uncanny, but nigh on unprecedented.
Many wondered whether we would see another as good as Dan Carter when he stepped away from test rugby after the 2015 World Cup triumph. It now appears that Barrett is well on the way to surpassing the recordbreaking first-five, even if his body of work remains decidedly incomplete.
On the week that the British and Irish Lions announced their chosen 41 for New Zealand, and unveiled Owen Farrell and Johnny Sexton as their likely test first-five contenders, the Hurricanes and All Blacks playmaker provided a timely reminder just where the balance of power lies in the area of influential No 10s.
Barrett was once again spectacular as the Hurricanes turned round a 21-14 halftime deficit to annihilate the Brumbies 56-21 in Napier on Friday night. He followed up his gamechanging turn against the Blues six days earlier with an equally dazzling and influential display against the Australians.
Chipping and gathering. Ghosting through defensive lines. Drawing and passing for teammates. Crosskicking as though he had the ball on a string. He directly set up at least four of the Canes’ eight tries, and was influential in others if only because the defence was drawn to him like bees to a honeypot.
‘‘I was a ballboy at Athletic Park for the 1977 Lions, and I’ve seen a lot of footy players over the years,’’ Hurricanes forwards coach Richard Watt said. ‘‘I’ve seen a lot good football players, and we’ve produced some top guys. But I’m not sure I’ve seen any better than Beauden.
‘‘He can produce performances like last week’s [against the Blues] out of the box. But he’s doing it every week. He’s special − definitely one of the best I’ve ever seen.’’
Former All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry concurred, telling Newstalk ZB’s Tony Veitch yesterday that he had been forced to re-evaluate his views on the young man.
‘‘A few years ago I wondered if he was a fullback playing fiveeighth, and I said that to Beauden,’’ Henry said. ‘‘Now he’s absolutely phenomenal. It’s like watching Beauden Barrett and 29 others [playing a different game].
‘‘[Against the Blues] he was so much better than anyone else on the field it was remarkable. If he’d played for the Blues they’d have won by 20.’’
Henry credited Barrett’s coaches with both the Hurricanes and All Blacks with empowering him to play the game as he sees it and also to stand so flat where he creates all sort of issues for defensive lines.
But he says Barrett’s work ethic and drive to improve his own game are the key factors in what makes him a player capable of topping even Carter’s seriesdefining performance against the British and Irish Lions in 2005.
‘‘I’m sure the Lions will have a counter-strategy to try to stop him playing, but it’s going to be difficult if he gets some space. He’ll probably get good quality ball from his nine and the platform the All Black forwards set to enable him to play is going to be the important thing.’’
Barrett, for his part, remains largely unaffected by the high praise that continues to come his way.
Asked by Veitch if he realised what he was achieving, the downto-earth Taranaki product said: ‘‘A little bit. I enjoy running the ball, and doing those exciting kicks and expressing myself out on the field. But to hear [such praise] from the greats of the game like Sir Graham, it’s pretty awesome.
‘‘I don’t get too caught up in it. There’s always room for improvement in my game and I’m always trying to get better. One day I’ll look back on it and be proud of it, but it’s just business as usual and in-season. You don’t have too much time to dwell on what happened the previous week.’’