Which Beaudy will stand up?
The Crusaders may ask themselves which Beauden Barrett will be unmasked in Christchurch on Saturday night. Maybe it’s a question the Hurricanes coaching staff will also wrestle with as they count down the days to the Super Rugby semifinal at AMI Stadium.
If you felt inclined to list in minute detail the good things first five-eighth Barrett has done during his career with the All Blacks and Hurricanes, you could burn through a couple of keyboards.
Yes, he goes all right. Some say he is the best player on the planet, and given he has been named World Rugby’s international player of the year for two successive seasons that argument has merit.
Barrett last played in Christchurch when the Crusaders beat the Hurricanes 24-13 in the round-robin match on a miserable night on May 25.
Rarely do the Crusaders, who have not been defeated at home since the Hurricanes walloped them 35-10 two years ago, walk on to AMI Stadium ranked as underdogs. But that was the case two months ago.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson couldn’t pick props Owen Franks and Joe Moody because they were serving suspensions, while captain Sam Whitelock, Kieran Read, Ryan Crotty, Israel Dagg and Tim Perry were injured.
Then came the news that Jordan Taufua had been ruled out at late notice because of a calf strain. Talk about heaping more misery on a side already reeling from misfortune, self-inflicted or otherwise.
Most people expected the white-hot Hurricanes, who had previously won 10 straight, to sweep into the South Island’s biggest city, grab at least four competition points and tighten their grip on the competition’s top rung.
What unfolded, however, proved to be the defining moment of the Crusaders’ season.
Their forwards were outstanding, and with first-five Richie Mo’unga kicking diligently in the difficult conditions they converted the 54 per cent of their possession into 61 per cent territory. The fact the agitated Hurricanes conceded 14 penalties to the Crusaders’ six was also significant.
Forwards Heiden BedwellCurtis, Scott Barrett and Mike Alaalatoa scored tries for the Crusaders. It was that sort of night, not one for the flash lads out in the backline.
If ever you would expect a player of Barrett’s calibre to dominate a game, that was it. Born and raised in Taranaki, he will be well versed in the art of playing with a slippery ball on heavy turf. It also rains a bit in Wellington.
Yet Barrett and his Hurricanes players, perhaps having logged on to all the message boards or listened to the wise owls on the radio talkback channels, tried to run the ball when the tryline was still in the far distance.
And got nowhere. So they tried again. The decision-making was flawed.
On a night when the ground was firm, and the ball was dry, such tactics would have had merit. Especially with a backline containing attacking machines such as Nehe Milner-Skudder, Ben Lam, Julian Savea, Jordie Barrett and Ngani Laumape.
Afterwards Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd couldn’t go throwing his players under the bus. It doesn’t work like that.
Because if a coach, no matter how frustrated, chips one of his team in the public area it could force him to go into damage control behind closed doors.
If a player is singled out, he can easily become resentful. So, too, can his team-mates.
All Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd could do was lament the poor tactical decisions and high penalty count: ‘‘We didn’t get our game management right,’’ he said.
The question time with the media in the back of the changing sheds lasted three minutes. ‘‘That was quick, wasn’t it?’’ said Boyd as the microphones were lowered.
There nothing more could be said. Sometimes it’s better to leave things that way.