Brilliant Barrett remains modest
Anyone who plays with that kind of audacity must be arrogant, right?
Well, if Hurricanes first five-eighth Beauden Barrett has big tickets on himself, they’re well hidden.
There were a few memorable moments to emerge from the Hurricanes’ 25-9 Super Rugby semifinal win over the Chiefs on Saturday, two of which were vintage Barrett. One was a chip and chase that produced a try for Willis Halaholo, with the other being an intercept of a Sam Cane pass that Barrett ran in under the bar.
You and I might revel in explaining how they unfolded, perhaps even include some embellishments. Not Barrett.
Starting with his seventh-minute decision to pop a kick over the Chiefs’ defensive line, while deep in his half.
‘‘It was an instinctive play. I got the lucky bounce and yeah . . .,’’ Barrett said.
Lucky or not, he made the most of that bounce by bursting downfield and finally popping a pass to Halaholo, just short of the Chiefs’ tryline.
‘‘What I saw was a brick wall in front of me, so I didn’t really want to run into it. I just saw there was a bit of space in the back and backed myself,’’ said Barrett
He put the intercept, 28 minutes later, down to a bit of good fortune too.
‘‘We weren’t that organised [defensively],’’ he said. As flanker Ardie Savea agreed. ‘‘Beaudy flew up and I was left behind so we’ll probably get a blasting in our ‘D’ review. But [it was a case of] Beauds’ natural brilliance I guess,’’ Savea said.
If Barrett thought there was his brilliance to thank, he didn’t let on.
‘‘They got the ball in pretty quickly. We weren’t set but, yeah, we just kept coming forward and yeah . . .,’’ Barrett said.
Semifinals are funny affairs, particularly