Beauden’s star is on the wane as he jets off to Japan

IT was meant to be the stage on which Beauden Barrett was crowned the best of his generation.

Instead, the two-time World Player of the Year returns to Japan with his future as a starting All Black far from assured.

Allowed just one run in his favoured fly-half position in 2020, Barrett failed to convince as the All Blacks were upset by the same Wallaby side they had humiliated 43-5 a week earlier, when Richie Mo’unga was marshalling operations.

A reluctant full-back, Barrett was moved there just before the World Cup failure in 2019. ‘Officially’, the change was tactical, allowing the All Blacks to accommodate both playmakers, as the excellence shown by Mo’unga could no longer be ignored.

But it also reflected the fact that Barrett’s individual awards were a tad ‘artificial’, bestowing a level of status on his influence that was perhaps out of order with reality, acknowledgement more of the team’s dominance in 2016 and 2017, than of his.

Barrett is a good player, but, for me, he is not one of the all-time greats of All Black rugby. Playing for Japanese glamour club Suntory Sungoliath, who still have Eddie Jones as a ‘consultant’, will provide the 29-year-old an opportunity to re-assert himself as a No.10.

The 16-team competition, which starts next month, is not the powder puff retirement package it is sometimes perceived to be. Barrett is one of six from the All Blacks’ World Cup roster who will take part, alongside five of the victorious Springboks. Michael Hooper, George Kruis, Alex Goode and Hadleigh Parkes will also feature.

Should Barrett excel in such company, he will put himself back in the frame for the All Black 10 shirt, especially if Mo’unga fails to maintain his dominance at Crusaders.

Anything less and he may find himself relegated to being a strike weapon from the bench, especially with younger brother Jordie looking to make the All Black full-back role his own.