Barrett poses biggest threat
Former England and Lions first fiveeighth Stuart Barnes fears Beauden Barrett ‘‘will tear England apart’’ if the All Blacks star is allowed to carry the ball freely from fullback in tonight’s Rugby World Cup semifinal.
Barnes, a regular rugby commentator for The Times, said England’s best strategy to beat the All Blacks would be deny to Barrett as much of the ball as possible in Yokohama.
Barrett starts at fullback, with Richie Mo’unga at first-five, in a team with only two changes from the 40-16 quarterfinal rout of Ireland last Saturday.
‘‘Beauden Barrett carried on 21 occasions, more than any other All Black in the history of the Rugby World Cup,’’ Barnes wrote for The Times.
‘‘So what?’’ I hear you say. ‘‘If you are so sniffy about statistics, what’s one more big number next to another name?
‘‘In this case it represents the fulfilment of the New Zealand strategy to field the best flyhalf in the world at fullback, enabling them to play their next best flyhalf, who just happens to be a more reliable pressure kicker.’’
Barrett scored a breakaway try in the first half against Ireland following a mix-up between Jonny Sexton and Rob Kearney but it was his running throughout the game which England should take note of, Barnes said.
‘‘If he carries 21 times again England are heading home. In 1999, John Hart, the Kiwi head coach, blundered by shifting the world’s greatest broken-field player – the fullback Christian Cullen – to centre. The rationale? To guarantee more touches,’’ he wrote for The Times.
‘‘It failed because there is not as much space at centre. In Barrett’s case, we are witnessing the reverse. The man used to the firing line has been manoeuvred backwards where it is hard to the point of impossible to man-mark him.’’
Barnes went on to say the All Blacks of 2019 were not blessed with the likes of Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Dan Carter and Julian Savea at his best and that England could contain the other backs other than Barrett, who would be the key figure for England to watch out for.
‘‘The latest centres [Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue] are fine players. So too the wings [George Bridge and Sevu Reece]; yet this quartet, short of experience and that extra special something that the 2015 backline brought to the party, can potentially be contained. If the catalyst is shut out of the game.
‘‘Twenty-one carries for Barrett and New Zealand will win. Fifteen and they probably will. Ten and we are talking a test match on a tightrope. Five and [bar a few tries from his carries] England are en route to Yokohama. It will require all the tactical acumen of Eddie Jones to pull this one off.
‘‘England will kick – a lot. Ben Youngs must box it too short rather than too long. There can be no opportunity either for Barrett to take the ball and counter, or for an All Black to spin the ball into midfield where he is free to create carnage. When the ball is belted downfield as part of the England pressure game, Barrett has to look up and see an advancing white wall without any gaps. He’s too good a reader of the game to do anything daft.’’