Boks not 'zoomed in' on Barrett only

ALL Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett is the new darling of New Zealand rugby " so how do the Springboks go about stopping him?

ALL Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett is the new darling of New Zealand rugby " so how do the Springboks go about stopping him?

Published Sep 12, 2016

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Christchurch – ALL Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett is the new darling of New Zealand rugby – so what do the Springboks have in store to stop the man who can do no wrong at the moment?

Nothing; the Boks instead will focus on the nine players in front of Barrett and target them first because if the All Blacks pack is on the back foot and the scrumhalf, probably Aaron Smith, is under pressure Barrett won’t be able to do what he’s done to everyone he’s played against recently, and that’s to rip defences apart.

The 25-year-old played a huge part in guiding the Hurricanes to their first Super Rugby title this year and having become the first choice No 10 following the international retirement of Dan Carter Barrett is the new wizard of the All Blacks.

The Boks though seem to have a strategy in place to keep the fleet-footed No 10 at bay when the sides clash in a Rugby Championship match at AMI Stadium on Saturday.

“We’re not only going to focus on Beauden Barrett,” said Bok boss Allister Coetzee earlier today.

“Our focus will be on the whole team. But ... he’s on song, he’s confident, and everything he does he does well, it turns into gold, but pressure is the name of the game,” added the coach.

“We’ll try not to zoom in on Beauden, but rather get our set piece right, scrum well, put their lineout under pressure, and hopefully that pressure will feed onto their No 9 and then Beauden as well.

“We would be stupid to focus only on Beauden. They have got game-breakers all over the place, they’re skilful, they’re confident at this time ... and yes it’s difficult to find weaknesses after they’ve just scored 18 tries (in the competition).”

At the halfway stage of the competition, Barrett is the leading points scorer with 43 points, which includes two tries. The try-scorers ahead of him on the list are teammates Julian Savea and Ryan Crotty, who’ve both scored three tries apiece, and are along with their No 10 the form players in the All Blacks team.

Meanwhile Willem Alberts was set to join his Bok team-mates in camp at the plush Peppers Clearwater Resort on the outskirts of Christchurch today, as a replacement for the injured Lood de Jager, while Faf de Klerk (chest) and Johan Goosen (ankle) were declared fit and ready to play by Coetzee. Both men picked up the injuries in the defeat by the Wallabies last Saturday.

The All Blacks have also been dealt a blow with the news that fetcher flank Sam Cane will miss out for the next month, his spot in the squad taken by Matt Todd .

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