Rugby Championship: All Blacks forward Scott Barrett expecting more refereeing inconsistencies

Dylan Coetzee

Samuel Whitelock of New Zealand during the 2022 Castle Lager Rugby Championship match between South Africa and New Zealand, at Mbombela Stadium, in Nelspruit on6 Auagust 2022 ©Samuel Shivambu/Sports Inc

All Blacks star Scott Barrett claims the breakdown has been officiated differently between referees across the 2022 Test season.

New Zealand has been uncharacteristically inconsistent this year, losing their July series to Ireland before going down to Argentina for the first time in the land of the long white cloud.

Varied interpretation

Refereeing has once again been a hot topic for fans and pundits as the interpretation of the game’s laws varies across the different officials.

Barrett insists that it is essential for players to adapt to the referee in the modern rugby climate, and the team that achieves this the quickest is often rewarded.

“I think it’s probably not just this year, it’s rugby in general,” he said. “Week to week you’re going to have a different referee and they’ll probably have a slight different view on the breakdown and how they’ll want to ref the game. It’s part of being a rugby player.

“Early on in the game, you have to get an indication on how the game’s going to be reffed at the breakdown and the team that adapts the quickest to that and gets on with it often comes out on top.”

A significant difference for New Zealand is that Super Rugby Pacific is refereed almost totally by Australasian officials, meaning the player needs to adapt to the interpretations of international referees during the Test season.

“We play in Super Rugby down here so the refs are well connected and then when you go to international you have to adapt with different refs each week,” Barrett said.

“Nothing too much changes. If there’s anything that [referees] are currently hot on, our coaches might teach us some habits at the breakdown on what to look for and our decision-making to help us.”

Open to playing flanker

Barrett has been between flanker and second-row during his time in the Test arena with his physicality required in the blindside role.

Shannon Frizell has performed well on the flank over the last three games, but the Highlander is unavailable for selection which could see the Crusaders skipper move to the side of the scrum for the Bledisloe Tests.

The 28-year-old does not mind where he is selected and would like to give the best account of himself irrespective of position.

“If the coaches name me there or say I can cover there then yeah, I’ll grab that opportunity with two hands,” he added.

The Rugby Championship is wide open heading into the final two rounds, where all four teams have an opportunity to claim the title. New Zealand sits top of the pile on 10 points, while the remaining sides have nine points each.

The All Blacks’ next assignment is the first Bledisloe Cup Test on Thursday next week in Melbourne.

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