Rugby: Beauden Barrett copies Jonny Wilkinson tactic to solve his game's biggest weakness

NZ Herald

28 Jan, 2020 05:00 PM2 mins to read

Beauden Barrett training during the off-season. Photo / Instagram

By Josh Raisey of RugbyPass.com

In preparation for the new Super Rugby season, Beauden Barrett has been working on his kicking game with acclaimed elite performance coach Dave Alred.

The long-time kicking coach to Jonny Wilkinson has also worked with a variety of sportspeople across a number of sports, including golf's Luke Donald.

But he has long been revered as one of the main contributors to the success of England's World Cup-wining fly-half.

Barrett is yet another superstar of the rugby world to work with the Englishman, as he has also teamed up with Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton in the past.

Known for his distinctive style, Wilkinson has been remembered in the annals of rugby history as being one of if not the best kicker ever. Throughout his career, his relationship with Alred was well documented.

Despite being named the World Rugby player of the year on two occasions, one area of Barrett's game where he has received some criticism is his goalkicking.

This has been shown up on the biggest stages of all, namely the British and Irish Lions series in 2017, and while it is not necessarily a weakness per se, it is not as strong as the rest of the New Zealander's game.

This resulted in Richie Mo'unga holding onto the No 10 shirt for the All Blacks for the majority of 2019 to provide more reliability from the tee, while Barrett played at fullback.

View this post on Instagram

Last week’s quality session with @alreddave trying to achieve body efficient technique with only 45% effort & 100% concentration - in the ’ugly zone’! @adidasrugby

A post shared by Beauden Barrett (@beaudenbarrett) on Jan 20, 2020 at 10:00pm PST

Working with Alred could be immeasurably helpful for both the All Blacks and the Blues, the club Barrett has joined after moving to Auckland from the Hurricanes.

He is going to take an extended break before his season starts and will only play for the Blues midway through their campaign.

However, the 28-year-old's willingness to train with Alred is a sign that he is making some huge and crucial improvements to his game before the season starts.