Scott Barrett, the All Blacks captain who has endured what he admits is a slow start to the Super Rugby Pacific season, says concerns about his form from former All Blacks Jeff Wilson and Mils Muliaina are “not far off the mark”.
Any “criticism” by the Sky Sports hosts has been mild and probably reflected in a wider feeling among the New Zealand rugby-following public, but there is little doubt Barrett, installed as All Blacks captain by new coach Scott Robertson last year, has not been himself at the Crusaders during the first half of the season.
"At the moment I am not sure where Scott Barrett's form is at, as a player. I am a little bit concerned,'' Wilson said on The Breakdown show recently.
"Didn't go to Fiji. You know, he is the All Black captain.
"I know what he is capable of as a player. He has been slow to start this year, and I am not saying he is not going to be an All Black.
"Just for his confidence and his impact he can have on the group, as one of the players that owns his spot and can go out there and lead the rest of the players, he is going to need some real support.''
In response, Barrett was largely on the same wavelength.
“It’s the media’s job to create interest and they’ve got opinions on performances,” he said today.
“Possibly those opinions have been not far off the mark. I hold myself to a high standard and potentially some of my performances earlier in the year haven’t been where I’d like them to be.
“I’m not too sure what it is. I don’t want to give too much away. I know the things I’m working on. I’m just getting excited for the Hurricanes this week.”
Lock Barrett, who captained the Crusaders until last year and had that responsibility taken off him by coach Rob Penney due to his extra All Blacks duties, did not travel to Suva for the Crusaders’ recent victory over the Fijian Drua.
It was part of a planned break and Barrett said the time off had allowed him to reflect.
Midfielder David Havili, who has not played for the past fortnight, was appointed captain by Penney and has impressed with his consistency and leadership.
Asked whether not being captain had had any influence on his form, Barrett said: “I do enjoy leading and possibly having that extra responsibility may have helped my performances in the past. I’ve just got to put my best foot forward each week for this team and get back to playing the best footy I can.
“I probably haven’t had the performances that I would have liked at the start of the season so I’ve been reflecting on that last week.”
Asked whether he was pacing himself for the latter part of the season and his All Blacks’ duties which begin in July, Barrett said: “I don’t look at it like that. I’ve played good rugby for this team and am fully aware there’s a Test season, but every player has to be in form to be selected for the All Blacks.”
Penney, meanwhile, was not as in tune with Wilson’s and Muliaina’s observations.
“As much as I love those two gentlemen, [neither] played in the forwards,” Penney said.
“Scoot’s fine, he’ll be determined. He’s a massively influential guy in our environment and we expect him to gradually get any doubters out of the way. He’ll kick on at the back end [of the season].
“By no means has he been bad… I guess players of his ilk have high expectations every week. They’re human and will have fluctuations as the old saying goes. Form comes and goes but class is permanent, and he’s certainly got class. His form will come back to where we all hope it can be very quickly.”
The Crusaders, who play the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday night, are in second place on the table after failing to make the playoffs last year.
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