Scott Barrett: ‘Three areas’ where the Blues’ ‘interesting style’ will help the All Blacks against England
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett and Super Rugby Pacific winners the Blues.
Self-confessed rugby anorak Scott Barrett is using all the information he can get hold of ahead of the All Blacks’ huge Test series with England.
The second-row was named New Zealand captain by head coach Scott Robertson last week and will lead the team in Dunedin on Saturday.
It will be Robertson’s first game in charge after he took over from Ian Foster following the Rugby World Cup final defeat to the Springboks.
Barrett, who he worked with at the Crusaders, is the player entrusted with the leadership responsibility, and the lock is leaving no stone unturned as the All Blacks seek to rebuild.
International rugby is very different to Super Rugby Pacific and the experienced forward understands where they will be challenged by England in Dunedin.
The three areas
“Coming out of Super Rugby, teams love to attack, but at Test match level, you’ve got to have a solid defence, solid set-piece and kick really well,” he told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “Those are probably three things that northern hemisphere teams and South Africa would really test you on.
“You’ve got to be really sharp in those three areas and I guess the natural running game will then really come out, and hopefully we will score a lot of tries off the back of it.”
Although northern hemisphere teams tend to play a different style, the Blues won Super Rugby recently by being incredibly physical and direct at close quarters.
It was almost akin to what you might see in Europe and South Africa, and Barrett admits that they will use that heading into the 2024 Test season.
“They’ve had a really good season. It’s a simple game plan that’s confrontational, using their forwards with wingers floating around,” he said.
“It has been an interesting style and obviously very effective so with guys coming out of that environment to share some insight into that style of game will be of value to the All Blacks.”
Watching Northern Hemisphere rugby
Barrett also revealed that he often watches the northern hemisphere matches in his downtime to get a feel for the game up there.
“I watch the Top 14 highlights on the Monday and some of the English Premiership games, just to see how teams play the game differently,” he added.
“You can take stuff away, you can sort of double down on your own game. Tactically, what are teams doing differently? Particularly around some of the bigger matches like the European Champions Cup. It’s an interesting watch, just to get a different perspective on how to play the game.”
