Jordie Barrett has inside running at 12
Ian Foster has some big calls to make as he ponders his lineup for the Rugby Championship finale at Eden Park next Saturday. By Marc
Bledisloe I hero Jordie Barrett shapes as the warmest of favourites to slip into the vacant All Blacks No 12 jersey for the Rugby Championship finale next Saturday, leaving the test career of cross-code convert Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in limbo.
With the injuries to David Havili (concussion) and Quinn Tupaea (knee) from the Bledisloe clash in Melbourne on
Thursday, All Blacks coach Ian Foster has to dig deep at second five-eighths for the return clash against the Wallabies.
With the decision seemingly made to plough on within the squad, Foster has two, at a pinch three, alternatives for a midfield partner for Rieko Ioane at Eden Park.
The most likely is to move regular starting fullback Jordie Barrett into No 12 where he filled in when both Havili and Tupaea left the field in quick succession in the first half at Marvel
Stadium. It’s a position he has a yearning to move to eventually and has played semi-regularly for the Hurricanes earlier this year.
And shifting Barrett there for a test this important would also give Foster a chance to assess his talented utility’s credentials there in a big-match environment.
That would leave a vacancy at fullback, but the All Blacks have a ready-made and extremely capable alternative there in Jordie’s older brother, Beauden, who has started 14 internationals at No 15 during his 108-test career, and has been a regular there during his 39 appearances off the bench.
Options abound, with starting right wing Will Jordan also more than capable of moving back to the position he occupies for the Crusaders, and which remains his best spot in the backfield.
Tuivasa-Sheck, who is in his first season with the All Blacks after his celebrated move across the codes from the NZ Warriors in 2021, would be the other option at 12, allowing Jordie Barrett to remain at fullback, and Beauden to continue as a game-changer off the bench.
It’s a move Foster might have been tempted to make had there been less at stake in the closing match of the championship. The All Blacks have already tucked away the Bledisloe for a 20th straight year, but will be playing for the title at Eden Park, and are also desperate to establish some momentum in a rollercoaster season where their form has been sporadic at best.
Tuivasa-Sheck, who played at 12 for Auckland in yesterday’s NPC clash against Tasman, has appeared in just one test so far in 2022 – against Ireland in Wellington off the bench – and remains somewhat of a work in progress.
But if the former NRL standout was to be overlooked
for Eden Park, you would be entitled to wonder what chance he was to feature in the All Blacks midfield in the near future.
With two out injured, and should Barrett be preferred, that would put Tuivasa-Sheck at No 4 on the pecking order.
Given the experienced Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue, both capable 12s, are sidelined at present, it would appear to put Tuivasa-Sheck well back in New Zealand’s midfield depth chart just a year out from the World Cup. Foster was giving little away around his leaning ahead of today’s assembly in Auckland. He felt the rejigged backline, with Jordie Barrett at 12, had performed well until the final quarter, and then had ‘‘lost its way a bit’’.
In terms of Barrett’s abilities in the inside midfield role, he added: ‘‘We know he’s really
competent there, he’s keen to play there at some point, and I thought he did the job pretty well. I see him as a 15 who can cover 12 – so the rest we’ll ponder.’’
Centre Rieko Ioane is probably relaxed whoever he gets as a partner for Eden Park. He’s played regularly with Tuivasa-Sheck through Super Rugby so would have no issues with reviving that partnership.
But he also gave Barrett a hearty thumbs-up for his efforts in Melbourne. ‘‘Jordie stepped up in a big-time game and filled in perfectly.’’