ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Sport
HOT TAKE
All Blacks utility back Beauden Barrett couldn’t contain his excitement when he woke up in his Argentinian hotel room this morning.
The All Blacks have their first test in the Rugby Championship against the Pumas on Sunday, which is already being billed as a crucial match. Naturally the veteran first-five and sometimes fullback, leapt out of bed to see what sport pundits and people on social media had to say about what position he should be playing.
As he excitedly scrolled through social media, the slipperiest of the Barrett brothers fervently denied experiencing deja vu, or an inadvertent roll of the eyes.
“It’s funny isn’t it? If I’m named fullback, half of the commenters say I’m more of a first five, whereas if I was named at first-five, then I’ve got everyone saying I should be playing fullback,” Barrett said while watching people passionately debate what position he should be playing in on the rugby field.
“Then you’ve got those others who say I”m better suited off the bench, but they don’t even say what position they want to see me in when I come on!
“These people probably wouldn’t bat an eye-lid if I came on as a replacement prop!”
Barrett, who played the majority of his Super Rugby season with the Blues at first-five, feels like the issue bothers others more than it actually bothers him.
“End of the day I don’t really care. A black jersey is a black jersey and it doesn’t really matter what number is on my back. If there’s a job that needs doing, I’ll do it.”
More to come.
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