Let’s do a maths equation that may make for an uneasy calculation for Scott Barrett, Scott Robertson and Ian Foster.
Barrett, the third All Black to be shown a red card in four weeks after Nepo Laulala and Caleb Clarke were sent off recently, is about to discover that numbers will be extra important in his case following his high tackle on Alex Hodgman in the Crusaders’ 27-23 defeat to the Blues.
A three-week ban is what Blues players Laulala and Clarke received for their offences – prop Laulala sanctioned for his shoulder to Fini Inisi’s head in a ruck cleanout during the match against Moana Pasifika and, four days later, Clarke for his botched charge-down attempt which flattened Moana Pasifika’s Tomasi Alosio.
Both Laulala and Clarke received initial bans of six weeks which were reduced for their clean judicial records, acceptance of foul play and remorse.
We can assume that Barrett will not contest the foul play aspect and that he was remorseful for the shot on his former teammate.
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However, Barrett does not have a clean judicial record. Only three years ago he was involved in a very similar incident during an All Blacks Test against the Wallabies in Perth.
In that case he was defending the All Blacks’ line in the 40th minute and drove his shoulder into the head or neck area of Wallabies captain Michael Hooper. The All Blacks, a player short for the whole of the second half, went on to lose the match 47-26.
Barrett received a three-week ban but the hearing found him to have an “exemplary judicial record”. The original suspension had been six weeks.
The 28-year-old, who has 48 Test caps, clearly no longer has that – unfortunately he is becoming a recidivist offender.
It’s not necessarily due to intent – no Super Rugby player is taught to tackle like that and no player wants to risk a red card for his team’s sake or his own – but Barrett’s body height as he enters the contact zone, along with the way he tucks his leading arm and uses his shoulder instead, is becoming a big problem.
The Crusaders already have issues with their depth at lock. Sam Whitelock has been out with a finger injury, but is nearing a comeback, Quinten Strange has a long-term calf injury, and Mitchell Dunshea is out for the rest of the season.
If Whitelock doesn’t return this week for the Crusaders’ match against the Rebels in Melbourne, Zach Gallagher, a 20-year-old in his first season of Super Rugby, will be Robertson’s only specialist lock.
And now we’re getting down to more numbers that matter, because should Barrett receive a four-week ban at least, he will be unavailable for the entirety of the Crusaders’ tour of Australia which also features matches against the Waratahs in Sydney, Force in Perth and Brumbies in Canberra.
A six-week ban would rule him out of the rest of the regular season. On their return from Australia, the Crusaders will face the Drua and Reds in Christchurch before the quarter-finals start, and it’s not being too presumptuous to suggest that as they are currently fourth and possess an undeniable pedigree, the defending champions will almost certainly feature in the playoffs.
Barrett will likely face the judiciary this week. A ban of at least four weeks is likely – a blow to him, Crusaders coach Robertson, and All Blacks coach Foster, too.
Barrett is an important part of the All Blacks locking stocks alongside Whitelock and Brodie Retallick, but he is rapidly gaining a red flag reputation as a player with a poor tackle technique and a player moreover who either won’t or can’t change it.
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