‘Superman’ Barrett sets sights on Ireland
More than six years have passed since Beauden Barrett first kitted himself in black, and instantly felt like a comic book hero.
Barrett was 21 when he made his test debut as a substitute for injured No 10 Aaron Cruden against Ireland in Hamilton in 2012, and when he took the field he reckons he felt near invincible.
It wasn’t a great night for Ireland, then coached by Declan Kidney. The All Blacks pummelled them 60-0 at Waikato Stadium.
‘‘It was the highlight of my career, the first opportunity to wear the black jersey coming off the bench,’’ Barrett said. ‘‘Feeling like Superman, making tackles I have never made before. I didn’t tackle back then; it just gave me a wonderful sense of power and energy. It was a long time ago, it seems.’’
Barrett has since played another 70 tests and is often acclaimed as the world’s best first five-eighth, even though All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said last week he was still coming to terms with some of the nuances of the key position.
Now 27, Barrett said he felt so empowered by wearing the dark uniform that his reluctance to get involved in the tackle, not his favourite part of the game at that time, disappeared.
His match-up against Johnny Sexton – they last faced each other when the British and Irish Lions toured New Zealand last year – will be a major talking point ahead of the test between the All Blacks and Ireland in Dublin on Sunday morning.
The chance of them picking each other out in defence off set plays will be rare, unless the first tackler is beaten.
For Barrett an early contact is vital to getting his adrenaline pumping: ‘‘Absolutely. It gets me into the game when you are forced to make a few tackles early on. It gets you into that right headspace.’’
He was also not shy about saying the 40-29 loss to Ireland in 2016 was still a sore point.
‘‘Whenever you lose in the All Black jersey it is never nice, we can draw from those experiences. Just a small reminder of how we felt in that changing room, we always respect Ireland.
‘‘We also know they are a smart team, they will throw a few things at us that we have never seen before.’’