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Blues head coach Vern Cotter made the call to give his All Blacks centurion Beauden Barrett a shot at the No. 10 jersey in round four, a call that was quickly rewarded on Saturday evening.
16 minutes into the Blues contest with the Brumbies at Eden Park, Barrett was slicing through the Australian heavyweights’ defence to score the opening try of the game.
It was a play many fans online have used to affirm the belief that Cotter should have been selecting Barrett to play first-five from the beginning of the season. Prior to the round four contest, Barrett had been exclusively employed at fullback as Harry Plummer maintained his incumbency after leading the club to a title last season.
Attacking from outside the Brumbies 22, Barrett received the ball from Cameron Suafoa, who led the first pod. The playmaker looked up to see it was Brumbies lock Nick Frost covering him, and easily shed the Wallaby’s tackle with pace. Running an angled line towards the whitewash, only Barrett’s opposite Declan Meredith was left to beat, and Barrett comfortably skipped over the trailing tackle attempt.
Just Beaudy things 👏#SuperRugbyPacific #BLUvBRU pic.twitter.com/vmYu5IIcKZ
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) March 7, 2025
The play came after the sides had traded penalty goals to begin the game and handed the Blues a seven-point lead after Barrett converted his own try.
A slow start to the season for the Blues saw the reigning champions slide to a winless start after two rounds before claiming their maiden win of the season in Wellington in round three, beating the Hurricanes in a tight contest to offer some winning momentum heading into round four.
Barrett’s promotion to his preferred No. 10 jersey was an eagerly anticipated one, and resulted in Harry Plummer being moved to the bench as Cole Forbes claimed the starting fullback jersey.
The Blues are still without fullback options in Stephen Perofeta and Zarn Sullivan, and will lose Plummer to a contract in France next season.
Barrett, on the other hand, at 33 years young, is still in game-breaking form and finds himself competing in one of the most congested positions for both club and country.
The All Blacks star was replaced at halftime due to a hand injury.
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