The jury is still out
second half and the game breaks up, Barrett is a devastating rugby player. But while the defences remain tight in the first half and the game is structured, Barrett remains a bit of a chump.
The passing weakness will not go away. There was a passage of play in that first half when the All Blacks went through 17 phases of play and ended up where they had started. In that sequence Barrett checked Anton Lienert-Brown with an offload, he stopped Ben Smith with a pass down at his calves, Rieko Ioane had to jump and reach behind for a pass and then Ben Smith got man and ball.
Barrett made a break in either half. But instead of straightening and bringing on the tackle, before giving a short pass to first Read and then McKenzie, Barrett allowed himself to be smothered.
He blew a try by forcing a pass that ended up going forwards, he was intercepted, he threw another pass along the ground, another couple that went forwards. Barrett’s passing is a real weakness and stalls the All Blacks’ momentum.
Barrett’s kicking from hand was sparse, presumably playing to a plan to run the Aussies out of legs. But it was too sparse and something must have been said at halftime, because Barrett began to turn Australia in the second half.
Ian Foster said at the break: ‘‘It’s probably a day to be a little more patient.’’
In other words Barrett was forcing the play. His play calling was not good and he failed to expose Australia’s defence rushing up on the outside. He also missed a couple of kicks at goal at an important time at the end of the first half. And apart from one exceptional kick to the corner, Barrett’s line kicking off penalties was short.
The game could have been a lot more sticky for the All Blacks if Jaco Peyper, typically, hadn’t favoured them with calls. He should have binned Naholo for a lifting tackle, he called an Aussie attack back with a ridiculous knock forward ruling.
And neither of the first two tries should have stood. Under the current interpretation of the laws (it’s physics and altering the direction of the ball travelled) Goodhue knocked on in the build-up to the first. Then Naholo ripped the ball free for the second when the attacker’s knee had long been on the ground. If those calls had been accurate Australia would have had an attacking penalty and the chance to go 13-0 up.
I don’t believe for a moment they would have won. Australia were feeble at times in the second half. And when McKenzie came on the game changed. It allowed Barrett to find holes playing off McKenzie’s shoulder. The world player of the year – gurgle, cough – may not be much of a baker, but he sure knows how to put the icing on the cake.
When the second playmaker comes on in the second half and the game breaks up, Barrett is a devastating rugby player. But while the defences remain tight in the first half and the game is structured, Barrett remains a bit of a chump.