Beauden Barrett: In-form Blues set for ‘hugely important’ fortnight ahead of Super Rugby Pacific play-offs

Blues’ star playmaker Beauden Barrett insists that they have something to prove when they take on the Brumbies in their penultimate Super Rugby Pacific encounter.

The Aucklanders have been this season’s star team, emerging victorious in 11 of their 12 matches and residing at the top of the table.

They were dominant winners against the Reds at the weekend, claiming a 53-26 triumph at Eden Park on Saturday.

Leon MacDonald’s men will now take on Australia’s best side, the Brumbies, where another victory will cement their place at the summit.

If they don’t then the Blues still have the chance to wrap up top spot in Super Rugby Pacific when they face the Waratahs a week later.

Both games are away from home, however, and Barrett admits that there is still room for improvement, despite their outstanding campaign so far.

A big challenge

“It’s hugely important,” he told Stuff. “Next week is going to be a big challenge for us going on the road. We understand how important our preparation is and then travelling. It’s fair to say our last two games away from home haven’t been that flash.

“So we want to go over there and prove we can play well away against a Brumbies side who are the top Australian team. It will be about us focusing on what we do well, and look into how we can attack the Brumbies next week.”

The Blues have been New Zealand rugby’s great underachievers over the past two decades, but they ended their title drought with a Trans-Tasman success last year.

They have built on that victory, producing a number of stunning performances in 2022, but Barrett believes that there has been no magic formula to their upturn in form.

“The best thing is we understand the fundamentals, or the important things we must nail before all that stuff happens,” he said.

“We work hard on those basic skills at training. We know how talented our boys are, and the things we can do, but we can’t do that without doing the basics well, training hard and nailing it out on the field as well.”

Barrett returned from his latest All Blacks-enforced rest to steer the ship from fly-half in the Blues’ victory over the Reds.

The pivot endured a frustrating start to the campaign, disrupted by prolonged concussion symptoms and a bout of Covid, but he has found his best form since coming back into the fold.

He added: “I’m loving it. I’m just enjoying whatever comes. It has been a little bit stop-start, whether it’s breaks or Covid interruptions, but I’ve just got on with it. I’ve enjoyed turning up to training with the lads. It’s a young group, an exciting group, and it shows how much we’re enjoying it out there.”

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