Phil Gifford: Beauden Barrett decision a classic case of angst-free Kiwiana

Beauden Barrett scores a try during The Rugby Championship game between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australia. Photo / Getty Images

Beauden Barrett at fullback and Richie Mo'unga at first-five just may be the best stroke the All Black selectors have pulled since they picked a 20-year-old, Rieko Ioane, on the wing to play against the 2017 Lions in his first test start.

"We just think he's the boy," said Hansen when the team was announced in '17, and we discovered Ioane had seen off incumbent Julian Savea. We'd later discover, when a documentary was released a year later, that Hansen had to work hard to convince assistant Ian Foster of the wisdom of the move. At training Hansen said to Foster, "Have a look and see what you think. Be open. If it doesn't work, change it." It did, and they didn't.

What's fascinating about the selectors finding a way to include both Barrett and Mo'unga, who I believe are the two best first-fives in world rugby, in the same starting lineup, is that the veteran, Barrett, has been moved to allow the newcomer to take the 10 jersey.

Over the 16 seasons Hansen has been involved with the All Blacks, first as an assistant, then as head coach, the mantra that team comes first has been drummed into the players.
It would appear to have worked. The discussion between Hansen and Barrett over the selection feels like a classic case of angst-free Kiwiana. "I (Hansen) said 'you're playing fullback' and he said 'no worries'. That's about how it went."

As it happens both players make pretty good fullbacks, but Barrett, whose tackling technique is impeccable, would probably have a slender edge if the competition was just to play at 15.

Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett look on during the New Zealand All Blacks training session at Hutt Recreation Ground. Photo / Getty Images

Within the game in Wellington the chance to sometimes swap roles may occur, and the two will discover how easily or otherwise they find making tactical decisions. And if you were going to experiment, as Hansen and Co have in other parts of the team as well, best to do it against the pressure that will be provided by a South African team that looms as the most formidable opposition in the Rugby Championship.

Beating South Africa was the pinnacle for New Zealand Rugby for generations. Which made it slightly odd when, in the 2000s, the Springboks often struggled, and Australia became the foe of choice, the yardstick for All Black success or failure. For traditionalists the renaissance of the Springboks, will feel right and fitting.

Playing, and hopefully beating, the Aussies was fine, but somehow there was slightly more satisfaction from succeeding in a Titanic battle with a Springbok side, teams that always felt loaded with forwards apparently conceived by two rocks in a granite quarry.

My mind flashes back to a sunny high veldt August Saturday afternoon in Pretoria in 1996. All Black flanker Josh Kronfeld is accepting congratulations in the changing room under the cavernous main stand at Loftus Versfeld. Kronfeld and the All Blacks have just beaten the Springboks, 33-26, and, after trying for 68 years, have finally won a test series in South Africa.

New Zealand supporters in the crowd of 51,000 are ecstatic. A former All Black Don Clarke, then living in South Africa, finds himself crying. But Kronfeld and his fellow All Blacks are so physically shattered they can barely muster a smile. I've known Josh's parents from when we were all teenagers, and first saw him when he was in a carry cot.

But when we shake hands this afternoon in Pretoria just lifting up his arm is exhausting for the super fit man he has become. The victory, it's obvious, has only been won with a huge physical effort that's left the All Blacks as drained as they are delighted.

Beauden Barrett from New Zealand kicks the ball during the Rugby Championship match between Argentina v New Zealand. Photo / Photosport

Now, I'd suggest, it's back to the future in our rugby, with the test in Wellington a fascinating preview of what we might expect in eight weeks' time in Yokohama, when the All Blacks face South Africa in the opening game of their World Cup campaign.

Nothing much has changed from the last Cup in 2015, when, although the Wallabies, with the help of some appalling refereeing, staggered through to the final, the only real challenge to a majestic All Black side in the whole of the tournament came in the semi-final at Twickenham, when they had to battle all the way to beat South Africa, 20-18.

That match was so tight, it took time, if you were a New Zealander, for the joy of the victory to sink in. Tension? Steve Hansen arrived at the semifinal press conference on the third floor of the Twickenham media centre slightly breathless. He apologised, blamed the stairs, then grinned and said, "Don't want to put any extra strain on the heart after that game." Indeed.

It is a long shot, but possible, that the All Blacks and South Africa could meet twice, at opposite ends of the tournament in Japan.

For the test in Wellington, Boks' coach Rassie Erasmus has picked probably the strongest team he can, after, like Hansen, rolling the dice in the first round. Both men came away with wins, and Erasmus, when he said this week that his side "wouldn't be getting carried away" with their 35-17 win over the Wallabies, probably echoes what Hansen felt after the All Blacks beat the Pumas, 20-16. A victory is always better than a loss, but this year the wins that count won't be in Buenos Aires or Wellington.

If the weather, as it promises to, holds, we could see some exciting play. Just as they used to, the Boks have a gigantic pack. Flanker Pieter-Stephen du Toit, at 120kg, is heavier than All Black lock Brodie Retallick, and No.8 Duane Vermeulen, at 117kg, is heaver than Retallick's locking partner, Sam Whitelock.

So it would be amazing if the All Blacks didn't want to run all that prime beef in green jerseys all over the paddock. And as it happens they should have just the fast, decisive, daring men at first-five and fullback to do the job.