The New Zealand Herald

Creepy Barrett meme a hit with the punters

- — Vaimoana Tapaleao

It’s the stuff of nightmares — three grown men dressed to look like little girls.

All Blacks brothers Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett are the latest rugby players to fall victim to hilarious memes made by the official Rugby World Cup social media pages.

The official page has become increasing­ly popular among fans from all around the world for its posts — many of which are funny memes, videos or photos of players from teams competing in this year’s tournament in Japan.

A post shared to its Facebook and Instagram pages yesterday morning shows the Barrett brothers’ faces photoshopp­ed on to the bodies of the Grady twins from horror movie The Shining, based on Stephen King’s hit novel.

Just like in the movie, the brothers — now with shoulder-length hair and in baby-blue frilly dresses with ribbon around their waists — hold hands and stare darkly ahead.

A caption reads: “What’s scarier than facing three Barrett brothers on the pitch? Come play with us.”

The post promoted the All Blacks’ pool match against Canada last night.

One fan wrote: “The only thing scarier than facing three Barrett brothers on the pitch is this photo!”

Previous posts shared by the RWC social media team combine specific plays on the field or a particular player with scenes from popular movies that have included Indiana Jones, The Lord of the Rings, Marvel characters and the odd Harry Potter reference.

People have been quick to praise those behind the posts.

One fan wrote: “I don’t know which marketing agency is managing this page, but it’s absolutely brilliant!”

Scott Barrett has reached 32 internatio­nal caps, Jordie has 12 under his belt, while older brother Beauden has hit 79 caps so far.

Fans from New Zealand and overseas were quick to share congratula­tory messages and well wishes to the trio, who have fast become firm favourites for many over the years.

“Congratula­tions to the brothers. They’ve certainly worked hard to enjoy the reward of playing together [with] the All Blacks,” one wrote.

While another said: “History in the making!”

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be the target of online fun.

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