Barrett pays price but has ‘special’ ABs future
Jordie Barrett will probably have to wait a while to make good on his big mistake in Wellington against the Springboks.
The fullback’s quick throw-in to Rieko Ioane, which went to ground and bounced perfectly for Willie le Roux to score in the famous South Africa victory, will be difficult to live down and while he won’t play for the All Blacks against the Pumas on Sunday morning (NZ time) and is unlikely to play in the test the following week in Pretoria, the 21-year-old is still very much in the frame.
Unfortunately for Barrett, who scored an excellent try in combination with brother Beauden to open the scoring at Westpac Stadium, his learning curve in terms of game management came in the All Blacks’ first defeat at home to the Boks since 2009.
Head coach Steve Hansen’s determination to name a strong side for the next two weeks in preparation for the World Cup means Barrett will have to do the rest of his learning on the training paddock. But such has been the young Hurricane’s quick rise since he made his test debut last year (his first start was against the British and Irish Lions), that may not be a bad thing.
Ben Smith, clearly the All Blacks’ top fullback, has been named in the No 15 jersey for Sunday’s test at Estadio Jose Amalfitani alongside wings Waisake Naholo and Rieko Ioane. If all three come through unscathed they are likely to start against the Boks at Loftus Versfeld, too, with Damian McKenzie probably on the reserves bench after he left Buenos Aires due to a family bereavement.
McKenzie has become such an exciting player off the bench in the closing stages of tests he is beginning to carve out a niche for himself there and the 23-year-old Chiefs player could inspire Barrett.
McKenzie’s habit of throwing intercepted passes, which received a training ground rebuke from Hansen as broadcast on Amazon Prime’s documentary on the team this year, has been curtailed. He has learned to control his impetuosity and Barrett can, too.
“He’s 20 or 21, so he’s not a very old rugby player but he’s a very talented one,” Hansen said of Barrett. “Sometimes you’ve just got to give them a bit of a go and it comes off. You’ve still got to get them to learn and sometimes you give them a go and it doesn’t come off. That’s when you put your arm around him and make sure he doesn’t lose confidence.
“Jordie is a project; he’s got the potential to be very, very special. His game understanding for his age is understandably not that good at times. He can make the odd mistake but do some really great things too. It’s a bit like when we first got Damian. He was all over the place. I described him quite often as a fly in a bottle. He’s now settled down and has become very fluid in the game. He understands when to take risks versus the rewards that come with them.
“Jordie is still learning that. You don’t want to knock the good stuff out of him, you just want him to learn when to push the button.”