All Blacks v Wallabies: Scott Barrett’s ‘sassy moment’ shows how far the All Blacks have come

All Blacks lock Scott Barrett makes a gesture to Wallabies halfback Nic White in the Bledisloe test game at Melbourne's MCG. Photo / via Twitter

On a night when Scott Barrett delivered yet another powerful and destructive shift at the coal face, the All Blacks lock will probably not love the fact that his sassy little moment of gesturing to Wallabies halfback Nic White to shush will be remembered by many as the highlight of his performance.

As Barrett said, it was out of character for him to indulge in those sorts of theatrics – to put his finger to his lips and gesture for White to stop complaining to the referee about whatever he was complaining about - after Caleb Clarke scored midway through the second half.

“I guess in the heat of the battle there were a few words about holding him at the breakdown,” Barrett said.

“I probably cleaned him out a couple of times earlier, so it wasn’t the first time he had complained to the referee.

“It is not usually like me. Normally I go back to halfway and worry about the kick-off.”

But far from being something he should regret, it was a moment to illustrate how both he and the All Blacks have come of age this year.

It was a little incident that indicated the confidence the All Blacks now have in themselves and their ability to front physically for 80 minutes.

And it was fitting that it came from Barrett, who took his game to another level in Melbourne, and it frustrated the Wallabies – White in particular - that they couldn’t find any way to reduce his influence.

Barrett’s appetite to carry the ball was insatiable and he played an instrumental role in organising the maul defence, which was vastly improved from the game against the Springboks.

Scott Barrett of New Zealand celebrates with Richie Mo’unga of New Zealand during the New Zealand All Blacks v Australian Wallabies Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship test match at the MCG, Melbourne, Australia on Saturday 29 July 2023. © Copyright photo: Scott Barbour / www.photosport.nz

Then there was his aerial work, and maybe most impressively of all, there was his defence.

There were periods at the start of each half when the All Blacks were under siege, and yet they held firm, conceding nothing and Barrett pulled off one spectacular goal-line tackle on Marika Koroibete that saw him cover almost 10 metres to get to the escaping Wallabies wing.

And it was also a thunderous tackle by Barrett on Tate McDermott that created the first try for the All Blacks.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster was asked to rate Barrett’s performance, and he said: “I would have thought nine out of 10, because if I give him 10 out of 10 he might have a lazy week. He’s playing really well.”

What pleased Barrett the most was the way the team battled through those periods when they were under pressure and to find solutions to the problems the Wallabies were causing them.

Specifically, he felt the All Blacks got better at dealing with the breakdown threat the Wallabies posed and that the maul defence was greatly improved from the test against South Africa.

Anton Lienert-Brown takes on the Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images.

“They always have some breakdown threats there and they probably looked at the South African game and saw that they disrupted us and Will Skelton and the like did that to us a wee bit there,” Barrett said.

“Our nines didn’t have the cleanest ball at times. The maul defence hurt us last week, so yeah it is a constant work-on for us and we want to get some strength there.”

The question that will soon have to be asked by the coaching staff is what selections they will make at lock for the return Bledisloe Cup fixture in Dunedin this week.

James Slipper and Quade Cooper of the Wallabies watch on. Photo / Getty Images.

Barrett has had a heavy and constant workload for the last few months, but he’s also in career-best form at a time when the All Blacks are wanting to keep building confidence and combinations.

But with Sam Whitelock having got through a solid 25 minutes in Melbourne to prove his Achilles issue is behind him and Brodie Retallick also playing well, there is plenty for Foster to consider.

“I am not sure why people think it is a headache [having competition for places at lock] because we want all our players playing well.

“I thought Brodie went well. He looked a little bit jaded, he went through a lot of work so there wasn’t a specific reason we made that sub.

“But we have got a lot of faith in Sam [Whitelock] and he has been jumping out of his skin to get on the park and he played really well. “There are some nice options there and we have just got to look at the balance and get over who is actually starting and look at the combinations as we go through 80 minutes.

“We know you have to finish strong and make sure we nail every moment and we are working hard to get the right balance.”