Full Circle

By Aiden McLaughlin

Results are what matter most but as so often, they don’t tell the full story. The Scott Robertson era has started with a 2-0 sweep against an improving England side, but Steve Borthwick’s side will wake up on Sunday kicking themselves that they didn’t level the series at a ground where no visiting side has managed to take the spoils since 1994, and where England have failed to win since 1973.

With 30 minutes to go at Eden Park, English sports fans will have been dreaming of a upset win that would have not only torn up those records, but also provided a triple crown of sorts; with a predictable Test match victory at Lords against the West Indies the day before, and another opportunity to bring football home to close out the weekend when Gareth Southgate’s men take on Spain, Jamie George and Maro Itoje were on the verge of improving on their draw at Eden Park in 2017 with the British & Irish Lions, before the substitution that changed the momentum of the match.

As is commonplace now, the end of a Rugby World Cup brings with it retirements, whether full or international, and for the All Blacks last year, that meant saying goodbye to the likes of Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick and Aaron Smith. But as Smith joined Toyota Verblitz on a multi-season deal, his long-standing halfback partner Beauden Barrett only committed himself to one season with Steve Hansen’s outfit, instead concentrating on committing his long-term future to New Zealand Rugby. On December 4 last year came the news that Barrett had indeed signed a deal that would see see him stay in New Zealand until the end of 2027, when he will be 36 years old.

Motivation for such decisions comes in many ways and who are any of us to assume what the exact make-up of those drivers were. But one thing has been and remains, and that is Barrett’s love for the black jersey.

At the age of 33, and with Damian McKenzie seemingly earmarked for the first-five role and Will Jordan the same at full-back (when fit) then it would have been easy for Barrett to bow out quietly and concentrate on Super Rugby Pacific as Robertson’s new era takes shape. But not only has Barrett made his way into the squad for the England tests, he has taken his place in the matchday 23 and come on in both matches.

In both Dunedin and Auckland, Barrett replaced full-back Stephen Perofeta with approximately half an hour to go, and in both cases, the home side were trailing. Last week, they were 15-10 down before going on to win 16-15 and last night they were 17-13 behind after England took the lead on half-time through Tommy Freeman’s try and Marcus Smith’s conversion. A further Smith penalty extended the lead to four points before Barrett started to roll back the years and remind us of the impact he can have off the bench.

His first notable contribution came in the 59th minute. England had a line-out in the All Blacks half, but lost it. Debutant half-back Cortez Ratima took the ball and passed to Barrett who had quickly injected himself into the first receiver position. Barrett kicked downfield from just outside his own 22 and chased it himself with the pace that has never left him, to tackle English fullback Freddie Steward midway between the English 22 and their 10-metre line. From that tackle resulted a turnover and just a few seconds later, Barrett was back at first receiver to take another pass from Ratima as McKenzie joined the line outside Rieko Ioane. As Ioane went into contact, supported by McKenzie, it was Ratima to Barrett again, and this time it was a well judged kick along the ground to give the All Blacks a much needed territory boost inside the England 22.

Although England cleared from the line-out, just over a minute later would come the vital breakthrough. As Ratima took the ball on the English 10-metre line, he passed left to McKenzie who then passed quickly to Barrett as an overlap on that side appeared. With Steward stuck in no man’s land between Barrett and Mark Tele’a on the left wing, Barrett was able to sprint the best part of 30 metres before offloading to Tele’a who comfortably scored his second try of the night in the corner.

As the clock approached the 65 minute mark, Barrett faced up to a Fin Smith grubber kick in the All Blacks 22 and made the very difficult look easy with a classy pick up and left-footed clearance into touch on halfway. There was more magic a minute later as Barrett collected a kick just outside the All Blacks 22 and instantly chipped over the English line that confronted him. Although the chip was just too far away for him to collect by catching, there was a volley that All White coach Darren Bazeley would have admired which brought the All Blacks into the England 22 as the Eden Park crowd found their voices.

Two more McKenzie penalties brought the score to 24-17 which ensured a nervous finish but the home side held out to make the flight to San Diego to take on Fiji next weekend that bit more comfortable.

Barrett’s performance off the bench brought back happy memories of his first few years in the All Blacks squad. During the 2012-15 period, it was usually Dan Carter at first-five, with either Israel Dagg or Ben Smith at fullback, and Barrett coming off the bench in the second half. Those were the days when the All Blacks seemed to be able to come back from anywhere (if and when needed) with the impact their substitutes provided. Of course, for Barrett, the high point of his time as a non-starter was in the 2015 Rugby World Cup final when he came on for Nehe-Milner-Skudder and scored a try in the closing stages.

Even the following year, Barrett didn’t make the starting line-up straight away. The post Dan Carter era started with Aaron Cruden chosen to start in the No. 10 jersey in the first two tests against against Wales. But after 33 minutes of the second test in Wellington, Barrett replaced an injured Cruden, took his chance, and never looked back. scoring a second-half try and making three out of four kicks at goal. In the third test in Dunedin, Barrett scored two tries and made seven of his eight kicks at goal. Later that year, and again in 2017, Barrett was named as World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year.

2018 was more difficult for Barrett as he sometimes struggled to unlock the rush defence tactics that sides had started to (and have continued to) apply against the All Blacks. It led to Steve Hansen trying the duel playmaker method, with Barrett at 10, McKenzie at 15, and Richie Mo’unga coming off the bench. The pair started the final four of the final five tests of 2018 against Australia, England, Ireland and Italy (the other test was against Japan). Ifs, buts and maybes, but had McKenzie not not suffered the ACL injury that ruled him out of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, would the Barrett/McKenzie starting combination have continued? Who knows. Barrett moved to fullback and Mo’unga started at 10 in Japan.

Scott Robertson and his coaching team have plenty to ponder as they fly to San Diego. The line-out in Dunedin and again in Auckland was frankly shambolic as they lost three of 11 last night and also fumbled a couple more. They will be conscious that England tired in the final quarter of a long season and Borthwick’s men also caused them problems with their kicking game. On the positive side, the scrum looked good and when you can win two tight games under a new regime, with plenty of potential still to be realised, that’s a good thing. The New Zealand rugby public also seem more engaged than they have been for a while, as intangible as that might be.

One of the biggest questions Robertson and co may face now however is just how best to use Beauden Barrett. Is he a starter? Is his role one off the bench? It’s a debate previous coaches have faced as we come full circle in his Test career.

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