Beauden Barrett, right, and Luke Whitelock at the All Blacks' captain's run in Cardiff ahead of the Wales test.

Beauden Barrett, the best first-five in world rugby? A high-powered World Rugby panel made him one of the five finalists for this year's world men's player of the year with just one other No 10, England's Owen Farrell in the lineup.

Sir Graham Henry says he thinks Barrett the first-five is still "sensational".

"Ian Foster and Wayne Smith have had him doing a lot of work with a heavy ball (a medicine ball shaped like a rugby ball), so his speed and accuracy of pass has improved greatly. And now he stands so flat to the line, he's so quick, he's always a danger. I think he's the best first-five in the world."

PHOTOSPORT Lima Sopoaga had a chance to impress against the Wallabies in the third Bledisloe test but didn't take it.

But in New Zealand Barrett's been peppered with sniping from the sidelines, to the point where for some it's an article of faith that he should be moved to fullback.

Has Barrett in 2017 always reached the sublime heights he did last year? No. In a year when the All Black forward pack hasn't always dominated, Barrett hasn't consistently been the lightning in a bottle he so often was in 2016.

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Carmen Bird Sir Graham Henry, pictured here with Wayne Smith in 2015, says Beauden Barrett is 'always a danger'.

But don't expect the calls for a move to 15 to be answered any time soon by the All Blacks.

There's an awareness in the coaching staff that while not every game Barrett has had this year has been gold, they ask themselves the same question sideline selectors seem to neglect. If not Barrett at first-five, then who?

Lima Sopoaga's start in the losing test with the Wallabies in Brisbane wasn't a success. Sopoaga does a lot right, but one area of his game that still causes concern is his exit kicking, clearing the ball under pressure near the All Blacks' line.

If not Sopoaga, the next first-five choices would be Damian McKenzie, a novice in the position, or Richie Mo'unga. Mo'unga has had a brilliant season, and Crusaders' back coach Leon MacDonald, not a man given to hyperbole, has compared his temperament to Dan Carter.

Like Carter, Mo'unga appears to be able to able to shrug off early setbacks, and enjoy the rest of the game. But the proving ground at top level for Mo'unga will be in next year's Super Rugby, when he'll be the player other teams will be specifically trying to counter, no longer a promising young gun.

And if you're comparing talent pools, look who'll be around next year at fullback. Ben Smith. Jordie Barrett. Israel Dagg. David Havili.

Why would you move Beauden Barrett from first-five to a position more richly stocked than any other in the backline, especially when during a game Barrett acts as a sweeper on defence, basically a quasi-fullback, and can always be moved back late in the match to take advantage of his staggering speed as defences loosen up?

As a coach outside the Hurricanes franchise said to me this week: "When he (Beauden Barrett) is on the field the game is never out of reach. You want him touching the ball as often as possible."

Looking back on the season the Barrett knocking machine really took off the middle of May when the Hurricanes, who in the first nine games of the season averaged just on a staggering seven tries a match, went to Christchurch and came to a juddering, tryless halt. Barrett himself couldn't win a trick.

What nobody fully realised at the time was how on that Saturday night Barrett and the Canes ran into a perfect storm.

To the Crusaders' coaching staff Barrett was the key to the game. The Canes' were scoring most of their tries out wide, but the Crusaders believed the vast majority were being sparked by Barrett.

Other teams had tried rush defences. That allowed, the Crusaders believed, Barrett the perfect chance to unleash the most dangerous part of his attacking arsenal, pin point cross field kicks. But to be passive, to hang back and wait for his kicks out wide, gave him a chance to run, and that was a world class weapon too.

To counter him the Crusaders needed their backs to tread a knife edge on defence, moving up close to the scrum or breakdown, and staying disciplined enough out wide to deal with kicks. "We wanted to change the picture he was seeing," said a Crusaders insider.

"Trying to get him to step back in, and then, when he looked up, the picture he saw gave him few options. No kick space, and no room to run."

If that sounds like a way for Barrett to be readily closed down in test rugby, back up a step or two.

The Crusaders' coaches know, as good as their blueprint was, it was a huge help that the night was wet and cold, and the field greasy. Without a firm ground Barrett's ability to step was limited when he took the ball to the line.

An even bigger element was that the forward battle was more of a rout. The Crusaders' pack, six of the starting eight All Blacks, smashed the Canes all night, so Barrett and his halfback, TJ Perenara, were always operating on the back foot.

It may be that the All Blacks struggling to the end of the year is not a reflection of problems with Barrett's form. It could be more that the All Blacks' forwards, decimated by injuries, are unable to dominate northern packs, and so we're seeing a late season echo of the stars that aligned against him in Christchurch in May.