The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Let's face it, Beauden blew it for the All Blacks

Roar Pro
8th July, 2017
Advertisement
The All Blacks are ready and waiting. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Roar Pro
8th July, 2017
38
1854 Reads

Beauden Barrett is a wonderful rugby player, in my opinion the world’s leading No.10.

But coming into this British and Irish Lions tour, his one obvious potential weakness was his goal kicking. And thus, it has come to pass that his kicking has been crucial in the outcome – not just of one match, but the entire series.

Barrett missed kicks at goal that a Test-level goal kicker should get, and with the second and third Tests coming down to such tiny margins, the fact remains that Barrett blew it for New Zealand through his unreliable goal kicking.

Despite his excellent play during general play, his form from the tee was just not good enough and ended up in the first drawn series ever between the All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions.

As unpalatable as it may be, New Zealand Rugby and its supporters would do well to consider this undeniable fact in their analysis of their drawn series with the Lions.

While the All Blacks have tended to dominate recently to a point where they have not needed goalkicking to beat teams such as the Wallabies and South Africa, in close matches they need to ensure all necessary points are taken. Unfortunately for them at the moment, Beau just isn’t doing the trick.

New Zealand needs to find a consistent goal kicker to fill the shoes of Dan Carter, who won a number of close matches for the All Blacks during his fine career. While Carters don’t come around all the time, there has to be someone in the All Black setup that can kick more reliably.

Fortunately, they have plenty of depth in the fly half department. What do you think, Roarers? Who should come in to replace Beauden Barrett for the All Blacks?

Advertisement
close