Farrell and Barrett poised for defining battle of wills
Respect on either side for fly-halves likely to have decisive influence on this morning’s Test
Adefining day on New Zealand’s North Island is likely to be shaped by just two men. Beauden Barrett and Owen Farrell, fly-halves in black and red respectively, will ultimately influence the first Test scoreboard more than any of their team-mates as they make best use of the possession that comes their way.
All Blacks selector Grant Fox, the fly-half who kicked New Zealand to victory over the Lions in 1993, calls it “a battle of wills”, a contest in which neither man is likely to blink first. Farrell, according to Fox, has “no weaknesses”; Barrett, meanwhile, is the fastest No10 in the modern era. In a match full of sub-plots, it is surely the most intriguing.
As Auckland filled with Lions fans, swarming along every street, Farrell himself declared that it was important “to play the game and not the occasion”. He said: “You can’t be thinking about what other people are thinking about, getting excited about external things. It has got to be about the team and what we need to do to win.”
If the Lions are to pull off an upset then the half-back axis with Conor Murray will be pivotal.
Fox and the All Black management are well aware just how influential Farrell is. “Owen just does everything well and we don’t see any weaknesses there at all,” he said. “He is a very smart player, runs good lines and is very good at putting people into space around him. He is courageous down that channel, too, and that is not always a trait of No10s. Owen is a hell of a good player.”
But so, too, is the man opposite him, the world player of the year, sharp-eyed and spring-heeled. Fox has never seen the like in terms of the pace offered by Barrett.
“In the modern era I don’t think I’ve seen anyone as quick as him,” said Fox. “Off the bench, he used to cover two positions [full-back and fly-half ] for us, which gave us flexibility. He could come on when people were tired and kill defences. But Beauden wanted more than that. He wanted to be a starter, so he went away and worked hard. If we are being brutally honest, we probably saw him as a 15 who could play 10, but he proved us wrong. He is a 10 who can play 15 – and last year he had a breakout year. He has found it tougher against some rush defences – and we know that is what the Lions will bring.”
And the All Blacks will offer plenty of options themselves, all over the field, from the strength of their own pack to what Fox describes as the “triple threat” kicking of Barrett, who can go high or grubber through as a means of countering the Lions’ rush defence, or utilise his ‘kick-pass’, the little dink into the hands of the wing. Allied to that is his short passing game to tee up Sonny Bill Williams, whose offloading is such a potent part of the attack.
“It is pretty clear how good a player Beauden is,” said Farrell. “He is one of their main threats but there are other things, too. You don’t want to go high on Sonny Bill, just tackle him, and there are adjusting defenders around him who are prepared for the offload.”
Farrell has been tutored in his defensive duties by his father, Andy, the father-son, coach-player relationship renewed for the first time since the 2015 World Cup. There has been no special reunion. “I’ve not being talking to him too much as my dad, no,” said Owen. “Not at all on this tour, in fact. I didn’t know when to say anything to him on Father’s Day as I didn’t want to say it in front of anyone.”
The touchy-feel stuff is not the Farrell way, on or off the field, as today will surely show. The Barrett-farrell head-to-head will be quite some game within the game.