An hour after the Blues worked the rust out of their system to dispatch the Highlanders in their quarter-final at Eden Park, Beauden Barrett sat in a chair, his silver boots set beside him on the floor in front of his audience, and did what the visitors couldn’t do – poked holes in his own game.
As the empty bottles crashed into bins outside the room on a night of celebration for the Blues, who demolished the southerners 35-6 to book a home semifinal against the Brumbies next Saturday, Barrett's slightly downbeat manner was surprising but also revealing.
Asked what he thought of his personal performance as the team’s navigator and short-notice captain in the wake of Dalton Papalii’s appendix surgery, which was only confirmed by the Blues via a media release an hour before kick-off, Barrett, who scored two tries and was far too slippery for the Highlanders, was a little subdued.
“When I stay engaged and maximise my involvements, I feel good,” Barrett said.
“The challenge is not to drift and limit those options. It’s an ongoing work-on. And obviously being the link between the forwards and the backs gives the whole team those opportunities to keep teams honest on defence. That’s where I think tonight I didn’t get it right all the time so I need to be hard on myself and stay active.”
Two thoughts immediately came to mind. One, given that Barrett was far too hot to handle when he ignited his running game either from deep or close to the line, what’s he going to be like when he fully catches fire? And, two, what does that mean for the Blues’ future opponents?
The second one is now up to the Brumbies, who a couple of hours later on Saturday booked themselves in as the Blues’ semifinal partners with a comeback 35-25 victory over the Hurricanes in Canberra, to find out. The Crusaders host the Chiefs in Christchurch in the other semifinal next Friday.
To say the men from the Australian Capital Territory will have their hands full attempting to contain a Blues side on a 14-win streak is putting it mildly because it’s not only Barrett providing a backline running threat, it’s the entire backline.
Second-five Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who scored his first Super Rugby try in the five tries to nil victory, is demanding attention from the Blues and opposition alike as his confidence grows in a new code, centre Rieko Ioane is a fast and furious presence on his return from a hamstring issue, and fullback Stephen Perofeta a similarly decisive and razor sharp attacking weapon.
“When we got a little bit of go-forward on the back of some good carries we saw some guys shine and we had opportunities on the back of that,” Barrett said. “It came down to us doing the basics well initially to give us those opportunities. It took us a while to do that, but we got there in the end.
“We see guys like Roger - and I thought Rieko’s distribution was really good tonight. It has come a long way. All the guys in the backline have a lot of talent so we just try to get the ball to space and let them shine.”
Of Perofeta, he said: “He’s hard to handle at the moment. He’s really decisive and I’m just stoked for him.”
Wing Bryce Heem may be a doubtful starter against the Brumbies after leaving the field with a head knock, with Caleb Clarke, still recovering from a hamstring strain, in the same boat.
But the way in which AJ Lam and Zarn Sullivan took their opportunities in the second half confirms the Blues have no shortage of outside back options.
And, if anything, Barrett’s hyper critical eye on his own performance after being handed the captaincy the day before is symptomatic of the new standards the Blues hold themselves to. Their unbreachable defence got them out of a tricky opening quarter against the Highlanders – a statement of intent that mirrored Barrett’s later.
“When I found out about poor Dalts yesterday [Friday] it was initially a bit of a shock but we rallied together well and just got on with it,” Barrett said.
“It’s an exciting challenge for me personally but I’m well supported and we have plenty of great leaders in the team. Obviously, we’ve got great coaches as well. We’re stoked to win this first finals game and give ourselves another opportunity next week.”
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