Beauden means big bucks
One can only imagine how many wealthy northern club owners demanded access to Beauden Barrett’s phone number after his magnificent performance in Auckland last Saturday night.
All Blacks first five-eighth Barrett scored four tries and kicked five conversions for a personal tally of 30 points during the 40-12 win over the Wallabies at Eden Park, issuing a pertinent reminder of why he has been named World Rugby’s best player for two years running.
Given Barrett, who turns 28 in May, is contracted to NZ Rugby through to the end of the 2019 World Cup in Japan there’s no chance of him joining a cashed-up club in France or the United Kingdom just yet.
However NZ Rugby will be extremely motivated to persuade Barrett to remain in New Zealand, and All Blacks coach Steve Hansen even suggested to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Sport Grant Robertson that the government help find ways to pay players to prevent them being lured overseas.
NZ Rugby CEO Steve Tew said he had a ‘‘similar conversation’’ with Ardern and Robertson in the grandstand at Eden Park.
‘‘If our team and our talent is important to New Zealand, then sitting down with the government at some point and time and talking about what we want to do together is useful,’’ Tew said yesterday.
Tew emphasised the financial pressures his organisation faced were real, stating the long-term financial projections showed it spent on, on average, between $5-7 million a year more than what it earns and that 36 per cent of fixed costs were siphoned towards professional players’ wages. Given the deep pits of money available to northern hemisphere clubs, Barrett’s name will inevitably head many shopping lists and his value will rise significantly.
Former All Blacks star Dan Carter was 33 when he played his final test in the World Cup final victory over the Wallabies in London in 2015, prior to joining French club Racing Metro on what was touted as a record deal.
The fact Lima Sopoaga, who made 16 test appearances from 2015 to 2017, is now earning around $1 million a season at English premiership club Wasps, underscores how much the talented Barrett could reap on the open market.
Tew said that if the 36 per cent of fixed costs set aside for players’ wages continued to be under pressure because the international market continued to escalate, driven largely by the wealthy club owners, there would be a ‘‘pressure point’’ for NZ Rugby.
‘‘When you had a display like we saw on Saturday night, and we could use Beauden as an example – without singling out anyone in our team – he played one of those games people will remember for a long period of time,’’ Tew noted.
‘‘We have already seen speculation in the media what he might be worth in the French market.’’
Barrett has made 66 test appearances, 30 in a starter’s jersey, since his debut against Ireland in New Plymouth in 2012 but it wasn’t until Carter departed that he was able to leapfrog Aaron Cruden and take ownership of the All Blacks’ No 10 jersey in 2016.
‘‘Our guys [NZ Rugby] will be talking to Beauden, not so much directly . . . we will certainly be talking to his agents on an ongoing basis,’’ Tew added.
‘‘He is certainly one of our star players. I don’t know this for sure but I would be surprised if we aren’t discussing the detail of his own commercial work alongside our work all the time.
‘‘Because players of that profile are much busier as well. We will be having a yarn to him, just as we will be having a yarn to Richie [Mo’unga].’’