A collective angst over Beauden Barrett’s form may be building among Blues and All Blacks fans but his teammates are backing the 112-Test veteran to find his missing spark.
It's fair to suggest that Barrett was not his usual self during the Blues’ 20-13 defeat to the Chiefs in Hamilton, the latest in a series of under-par performances as his side sank to their third loss in six matches.
He needlessly stepped on the dead ball line in the act of scoring a try, shelled a straightforward catch and stood increasingly deep against the Chiefs’ defence at Waikato Stadium.
Former All Blacks fullback-turned-broadcaster Mils Muliaina has wondered whether Barrett is struggling for confidence but, ahead of Friday’s match against the Rebels in Melbourne where Barrett will start again at No10, assistant coach Craig McGrath has stressed the need for the Blues as a collective to improve.
And skipper Dalton Papali’i said he would always back his teammate.
“First and foremost, Beauden is a world class player,” McGrath said today. “By his standards he’ll know that probably wasn’t his best performance but it’s a collective thing, too. It’s up to everyone from 1 to 23 to make sure they nail their own stuff… I think he’ll be fine.
“Sometimes it’s the quality of ball we’re getting. It’s easy to sit back and say why isn’t he taking on the line. But as I said before it’s a collective thing. If we have slow ball then he’s not playing on top so it’s up to everyone to deliver so we can release those guys outside of Beauden.
“It’s more about our collision area to make sure we get front foot ball so those guys can take the line on.
“He’s hungry, he’s the ultimate pro isn’t he? He’s heard outside noise before. I’m sure he doesn’t read the papers and I’m sure he doesn’t have a Facebook page. He’s just about getting his job done… we’re all thoroughly behind him.”
Papali’i said: “It’s Beaudy Barrett – he’s been there, done that. He’s that much of a veteran… I’m behind him 100 per cent and I’m behind anyone in my team in form or out of form.”
When asked whether his teammates had given Barrett a hard time over his disallowed try, he said: “You don’t rub it in to any player who’s, not struggling, but trying to find their form again. We haven’t been in form as a team as a whole so there’s no point pointing fingers, we’ve got to find solutions to work together and to get wins. We’re nearly there.”
A growing issue for the Blues, last year's beaten finalists, is their inability to win the big games despite a wealth of territory and possession. That has been the case in their defeats to the Brumbies, Crusaders and now the Chiefs.
In the Crusaders defeat at Eden Park they twice had tries disallowed after dropping the ball over the line and at Waikato Stadium last weekend they struggled to find a cutting edge despite a dominant scrum and a huge possession advantage.
Asked about the errors, McGrath said: “We’ve got to put them in those scenarios in training so they can nail those out on the field… [and] it’s an individual responsibility. We’ve got some pretty good footy players here and they’ll be disappointed with the way they played at the weekend.”
Significantly, when it was suggested that it might be difficult for the All Blacks to be at their peak now rather than later in the year, McGrath said: “Yeah, but I’m sure if you asked every one of our All Blacks here right now they’d say they’re not looking forward to that because I don’t think Fozzie has picked a team yet. So they’ve got to play well to make sure they’re one of the 33 to make their way to France.”
Blues team to play the Rebels at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Saturday, kick-off 9.35pm is:
1. Jordan Lay
2. Ricky Riccitelli
3. Nepo Laulala
4. Patrick Tuipulotu
5. Sam Darry
6. Adrian Choat
7. Dalton Papalii (c)
8. Anton Segner
9. Finlay Christie
10. Beauden Barrett
11. Caleb Clarke
12. Harry Plummer
13. Rieko Ioane
14. Mark Telea
15. Zarn Sullivan
Reserves:
16. Soane Vikena
17. Ofa Tuungafasi
18. James Lay
19. Cameron Suafoa
20. Tom Robinson
21. Sam Nock
22. Corey Evans
23. Caleb Tangitau
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