An advocate of the All Blacks’ renewed high-tempo style of play, Beauden Barrett is honoured to go head to head with rookie Stormers pivot Yaqeen Ahmed on Friday.
The 35-year-old Barrett will start at flyhalf in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour opener at Cape Town Stadium.
Fronting the media on Wednesday, the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year lauded debutant Ahmed, who grew up idolising him.
“With him and Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu], the Stormers are in good hands going forward,” he said. “The success of the Springbok U20s in recent times has been superb.
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“I feel honoured that he looked up to me,” Barrett added. “As All Blacks we’re always trying to do our best to inspire kids, not just in New Zealand.
“It’s pretty cool that we have a chance to go head to head and I’ll certainly make sure that I chat to him after the game because, yeah, he’s certainly the future.”
The former Hurricanes star will lean into his experience and previous tours of South Africa to help guide the All Blacks.
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“I can recall playing at Newlands, it’s still in the top three stadiums for me,” he said. “Playing against Schalk Burger, Jean de Villiers, some great names.
“We’ve respectfully prepared around who we’re up against. The Stormers had a successful last season, making the URC semi-finals, so we’re aware of their threats.”
After being omitted from Dave Rennie’s first three matches in charge of the All Blacks, Barrett is eager to make an impact.
“It’s been a good chance to work on my game and freshen up. I’m excited to get out there with [scrumhalf] Cortez Ratima on Friday night against a quality team,” he said.
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The 2015 World Cup winner added that the All Blacks’ unbeaten start under Rennie has been built on rediscovering their traditional attacking identity.
“What’s probably been evident is the speed and skill set that’s required to play the game that we want to. That’s been very positive for us.
“There’s been a good overflow from the success of the Super Rugby teams; it’s reasonably consistent with the way that Dave and [attack coach] Mike Blair want to play.
“It’s our DNA and how we like to play, how we arguably used to play, and there’s a nice free-flowing element to it,” he concluded.
Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images
The post Beauden keen to show Yaqeen his speed appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
An advocate of the All Blacks’ renewed high-tempo style of play, Beauden Barrett is honoured to go head to head with rookie Stormers pivot Yaqeen Ahmed on Friday.
The post Beauden keen to show Yaqeen his speed appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
