With 145 All Black test caps to his name, Beauden Barrett can reasonably claim to have seen everything in rugby. The man who will wear the touring team’s No 10 jersey against the DHL Stormers as the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry journey begins in Cape Town has also been a two time winner of the World Rugby Player of the Year award.
However, the 35-year-old still has frontiers he wants to conquer as a rugby player, and one of them is a series win in South Africa, something that the All Blacks have only managed once in their history - on the last official test series tour to this country 30 years ago under the captaincy of Sean Fitzpatrick.
He says he has also been reinvigorated by watching his teammates embrace new coach Dave Rennie’s more all embracing playing style during his break when the All Blacks kicked off the new era with three wins in the home leg of the inaugural Nations Championship.
“What’s probably been evident is the speed and skill set that’s required to play the game that we want to. That’s been very positive for us,” said Barrett on the eve of his return to the All Black mix after his short stint on the sidelines.
“There’s been a good overflow from the success of the Super Rugby teams; it’s reasonably consistent with the way that Dave and (attack coach) Mike Blair want to play. It’s our DNA and how we like to play, how we arguably used to play, and there’s a nice free-flowing element to it.”
Barrett said he had appreciated the chance to refresh and was now ready to give it his all on this tour, which encompasses four games against the South African URC clubs as well as the three test series against the Springboks before the trip to Baltimore, USA, for the final game.
“It’s been a good chance to work on my game and freshen up. I’m excited to get out there with Cortez (scrumhalf Cortez Ratima) on Friday night against a quality team,” he said.
Barrett is one of the All Blacks who would have had experience of playing against the Stormers, as well as the other local teams the Kiwis will face on this tour. And he says he’s been spreading the message about what to expect to the other players.
“I can recall playing at Newlands, it’s still in the top three stadiums I have played at for me. I played there against Schalk Burger, Jean de Villiers, some great names,” said Barrett.
“We’ve respectfully prepared around who we’re up against. The Stormers had a successful last season, making the URC semifinals, so we’re aware of their threats.”
Coach Rennie said he expected Barrett to be the All Blacks’ game driver against the Stormers.
“He is very smart, as you would expect from someone who has played over 140 odd games for his country, so he won’t try to overplay his hand,” said Rennie.
“He will instead focus on trying to organise those around him. He has been training really hard while not playing. I know he is very eager to get out there and drive the ship for us.”