The All Blacks are hoping to make this trip north “a tour like no other.” Scrumhalf TJ Peranara said it. Now Beaudan Barrett is repeating the mantra. “A tour like no other,” it seems almost like the threat of full force All Blacks ambition.
But, so too have the players been talking about their families and a balance at which they have tried to arrive. Barrett, who this year played his rugby in Japan with Suntory Sungoliath and then jumped into the tour, will not have been home for three months.
Although younger at 30-years-old, the outhalf hit his 100 cap mark one week before Johnny Sexton did against Japan. Like Sexton, who has a family with three children, Barrett has a daughter. Perspectives change and the ‘tour like no other’ theme maybe the motivational team tool to keep body and soul together.
“Look, I was grateful for an opportunity to play in Japan this year and step away from New Zealand footy and what I’ve been in the groove in doing for a number of years now and get a bit of perspective on life and footy in general,” says Barrett.
“It gave me the opportunity to get back in the driver’s seat and get regular reps in the first five-eighth (outhalf) position which I thoroughly enjoyed. So yeah, it was a great experience for me. I came back very excited, physically in good shape and felt really good.
“I’m now 30, I’m married, I’ve got a daughter. Life’s a bit different. For me, I’ve got a bit more responsibility in this team, being a leader and so on and I just want to make the most of it because the last 10 years has gone very fast.
“I feel like I’ve still got a long way to go and still feel young and energetic and very driven to be better so yeah, I’m just enjoying my footy and my role in this team at the moment.”
Barrett is aware of Sexton’s influence in the Irish set-up. He’s tuned into the way the Irish team, to a man, celebrated when he scored a try on his 100th cap. He’s aware of the sense of group cohesion and the battling way Sexton plays his rugby and the way he can transfer that energy.
It is all in the hopper, as Eddie O’Sullivan used to say.
It is not Barrett’s first rodeo in Ireland and another All Blacks mantra comes in to play. Best in the world New Zealand may be, but they can’t be too cute and “earning the right” means they are prepared for anything when the Sexton led Ireland side show up.
“Look, I admire his play, his longevity and how influential he is for his team,” says Barrett. “Of course he has great skill-sets. One of the strengths of his game is his ability to get second touches, post-pass and follow up and get another touch like that.
“There is a lot to admire about him and the way he plays. In terms of his mentality, he’s a clear competitor. He loves to win, he loves to get amongst the physicality and he’s a huge part of their team and how they play.
“You don’t get too caught up in it. But you do appreciate who your opponent is and the team you’re playing so absolutely. He brought up his 100th cap last week and it was evident that his team got up for him.”
Respect but short of over egging the praise, Ireland, he says “are technically sound but very good tacticians.”
It is a step on from the fighting Irish. But picking what is exceptional about New Zealand is always what’s in their heads. They run a tight ship and as Perenara pointed out, the burden on players to win matches comes from within the squad. The public, the fans, the media is a fraction of the pressure they put on themselves.
Still the Guinness Storehouse is on this week’s menu courtesy of Greg Feek, one time Ireland scrum coach. It can’t be all work and no play.
“He has booked us in at the Guinness factory one night this week so all the lads are looking forward to that. He can’t help himself,” says Barrett.
More good option selection, then, from the world number one side.
“We’d be foolish not to learn from the previous games,” he adds. “They’re a serious side and we have so much respect for them. We’re preparing accordingly. Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton run a good cutter. So we’re going to have to work hard to break this team down. It will take a lot of discipline.”
Murray or Gibson-Park, Barrett has made his suggestion. Form might make a different call for the three-time world champions, a match like no other.
