NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Rugby / Super Rugby

Rugby: Gifted Barrett still not the full package

Gregor Paul
By Gregor Paul
Rugby analyst·NZ Herald·
22 Apr, 2016 07:34 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Beauden Barrett of the Hurricanes in action during the round one Super Rugby. Photo / Getty Images

Beauden Barrett of the Hurricanes in action during the round one Super Rugby. Photo / Getty Images

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Beauden Barrett must get sick of hearing what a gifted footballer he is. Such praise effectively highlights what he's not - an especially gifted, specialist first five.

He wants to be the latter and he wants to use tonight to show what he's got. That's his thing, his goal, his driving force - to become a world-class No 10. He wants to be recognised for his game management; his decision-making, his tactical control and understanding.

He'd dearly love to be an 80 per cent-plus goalkicker - the sort of player, who when tasked with landing the touchline conversion to win the biggest test of the season, steps up with certainty and sends it through the middle.

If he can do all that and continue to run with the speed and agility of a wing and back himself to pull off the impossible, as he so often does, then he's going to be where he and the nation wants him to be.

"Gifted footballer" is really a way of saying that he has a portfolio of skills that don't fit neatly into one specific role. That he is, at the moment, the perfect option for the All Black bench.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

From there he can be injected at fullback and give the All Blacks two first receivers and decision-makers either side of the ruck. From fullback, with 30 minutes left in a test, he can use his extreme pace to blast past tired defenders and spark the All Blacks into life.

He makes so much happen in the last half-hour that he's almost trapped himself with his contribution.

His only way off the bench is to prove he's the best option to start at No 10. He has to convince the selectors that he can match Aaron Cruden's timing and impish agility. He has to prove he can read the game, see the big picture and, perhaps most important, he has to match Lima Sopoaga's accuracy in front of goal.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Between Barrett, Cruden and Sopoaga, the All Blacks have the perfect No 10, but unfortunately they can't wrap all three into one player. At the moment, the closest is Cruden. Though he hasn't goalkicked much for the Chiefs this year, everyone knows he can and that he can also get better at it.

Of his 36 test caps, he's started in only eight and two of those were at fullback. The question for Barrett is: how long will he be content play a secondary role?

The All Black coaches have clearly thought about this, because they have elevated Barrett to the leadership group. That suggests they will be looking to build Cruden and Barrett together.

There may not be a definitive pecking order as such and they may look to swap who starts, depending on the opposition.

Discover more

Super Rugby

Emery's moment of madness costly for Highlanders

22 Apr 09:36 AM
All Blacks

All eyes on Cruden's goal-kicking skills

22 Apr 05:00 PM
Sport

SBW shares his tale for Pasifika youth

22 Apr 05:00 PM
Super Rugby

Brumbies out to snap Kiwi Super Rugby dominance

23 Apr 04:18 AM

Coach Steve Hansen wants Barrett to be a world class No 10 as much as Barrett does. Hansen needs him to be, because first five is a high-attrition role. Just as they didn't want to be overly dependent on Daniel Carter in 2012, the All Blacks don't want to have all their play-making eggs in Cruden's basket. They need Barrett to be capable of driving the game and kicking goals, and that's not going to happen by confining him to the bench all year.

There would also be some concern that, without some sense of progress, Barrett could be tempted offshore.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Super Rugby

New Zealand

'Two bits of gold': How ballet and sumo transformed the All Blacks

12 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Business|companies

Whānau Ora funds probe: Pasifika Futures’ family ties questioned

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Super Rugby

Moana Pasifika’s owners 'strongly reject' misuse of public funding claims amid probe

28 Jun 04:55 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Super Rugby

'Two bits of gold': How ballet and sumo transformed the All Blacks

'Two bits of gold': How ballet and sumo transformed the All Blacks

12 Jul 05:00 PM

The All Blacks learned to reduce 'turf toe' from the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Premium
Whānau Ora funds probe: Pasifika Futures’ family ties questioned

Whānau Ora funds probe: Pasifika Futures’ family ties questioned

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Moana Pasifika’s owners 'strongly reject' misuse of public funding claims amid probe

Moana Pasifika’s owners 'strongly reject' misuse of public funding claims amid probe

28 Jun 04:55 AM
'So much life in me': Hurricanes player's partner has 'rare and aggressive' cancer

'So much life in me': Hurricanes player's partner has 'rare and aggressive' cancer

27 Jun 12:25 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP