ALL BLACKS’ 45- hr MAN
Playmaker has been on the park for 2695 minutes for Hurricanes and All Blacks
Beauden Barrett has quickly become the busiest man in New Zealand rugby — and the All Blacks’ most demanding season yet is only about to start.
Barrett’s path has seen him anointed as the All Blacks first- choice No 10, and one of the most valuable All Blacks.
He has played by far the most rugby of any All Black since the start of 2016 — a staggering 45 hours.
In that time frame, Barrett has been on the park for 2695 minutes for the Hurricanes and All Blacks combined — a figure that is 11.6 per cent higher than his closest “rival”, fellow All Black Malakai Fekitoa.
The trend continues Barrett’s rapidly increasing workload over the years. As he has steadily become New Zealand’s premier first- five, the onfield demands has risen with it, notably the 2016 Super Rugby campaign.
All Blacks played on average six per cent more in Super Rugby in 2016 than they did 12 months before.
However, Barrett’s workload skyrocketed by 48 per cent, aided by a relatively clean bill of health.
In 2015, he played 932 Super Rugby minutes, but in 2016 he played 1383 — the most in the competition — as the Hurricanes coasted to the title.
Barrett, whose lively schedule has continued with the Canes in 2017, also accumulated 909 minutes with the All Blacks last year, the third most in the squad after the team’s skipper Kieran Read ( 1035) and Ben Smith ( 952).
Read — whose minutes would surely take a greater physical toll than Barrett’s — was granted time off to start the Super Rugby season, while Smith was sidelined by concussion.
Barrett racked up 600 more minutes than Aaron Cruden over the analysed period, and 1100 more minutes than Lima Sopoaga.
Barrett nearly had an involuntary week off after picking up two yellow cards against the Waratahs last week, but was cleared to start against the Blues tonight.
However, with an able back- up first- five at the Hurricanes in Otere Black, a short rest could be of use for Barrett before the Lions visit in June.
Barrett will be one of the key men in this series, the start of arguably the most gruelling international schedule New Zealand have faced.
The All Blacks are set to play 14 tests and two extra games.
They take on the Lions t wice in Auckland and once in Wellington after an extra test against Samoa, eight days before the first Lions encounter at Eden Park.
Seven Rugby Championship tests against Australia, South Africa and Argentina follow the Lions series, while they have agreed to play the New Zealand Barbarians in London on November 4 and have tests set in stone against France in Paris on November 11, Scotland in Edinburgh on November 18 and Wales in Cardiff on November 25.
The extra game i s still not confirmed but the All Blacks are working through options to play a mid- week fixture in France later this year.