Wearing blue shorts and a fresh white T-shirt, Barrett looks as fit as you'd expect three days out from the start of the Rugby Championship, the four-nation southern hemisphere battle between New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina. Saturday night's match with the Wallabies doubles as the season's first Bledisloe Cup fixture. The Bledisloe is the long-running trans-Tasman rugby battle that New Zealand is looking to win for the 16th year running.

That statistic makes sorry reading for Wallabies fans like me. It also raises the question of how have the All Blacks dominated for so long.

Growing up on the farm

But more of that later. Just how Beauden and brothers Scott and Jordie, a loose forward and outside back respectively, became All Blacks is a story in itself. Barrett, 27, is the second of eight kids. "We grew up working very hard on the farm," he says of his childhood in small-town Taranaki, on the southwest shoulder of New Zealand's North Island, not far from New Plymouth.

"We had two very supportive parents [Kevin and Robyn] and we always looked up to Dad. Every Saturday we'd play our game, then go watch Dad." Barrett senior was an "uncompromising loose forward" who played 169 games for Taranaki and a couple of seasons for the Hurricanes. When he retired in his mid-30s, he told teammates he was heading off to "breed some All Blacks".

Beauden Barrett, All Black Fly Half. AFR lunch at The stillery - Intercontinental Double Bay. Photo by Peter Braig. 17 August 2018. Peter Braig

By that time the Barretts had five boys, all of whom took to rugby with gusto. Robyn Barrett, who'd played basketball and netball, knew the value of being fit and would arrange for the elder boys to race the school bus home. While the farm was just 4.5km away the bus took a circuitous 15km route to get there.

"We were still in primary school, running along the road in bare feet. Kids have tough feet – I could never do that these days."


When Barrett was eight the family moved to Ireland for 18 months, primarily so his father could manage a dairy farm in County Meath but also for a "rugby experience". Barrett and his older brother Kane played Gaelic football. Upon returning to New Zealand the Barrett boys boarded at Francis Douglas Memorial College in New Plymouth, from where Beauden reached the Hurricanes secondary schools team – "I was mainly on the bench, I didn't get much game time" – but wasn't a star.

Our food arrives and, as he did for the water, Barrett makes a point of thanking the waiter.

Beauden Barrett, right, with brothers Scott, left, and Jordie. PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

A flirtation with AFL

His next revelation surprises me. Barrett says he nearly wound up playing AFL.

"At 17 I was graduating and didn't know what to do. I was seriously contemplating going to Melbourne to play Aussie football.

"I enjoyed kicking, I was fit and reasonably tall and it's an easy game to follow," he explains. One of the Catholic brothers at his high school was a huge Hawthorn man. "If I'd said yes he would have made it happen. He's still trying to get me over there."

At the critical moment, however, Barrett was encouraged to try out for the Taranaki sevens team ahead of the national sevens competition. He made it and showed enough flair at the tournament to be selected for the New Zealand mens sevens team at just 18. "That was the break I needed," he says. On his 21st birthday he was called up to the All Blacks.


Sealer: New Zealand's Beauden Barrett scores in the shadows of full-time during the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham in 2015. AP

After a few seasons as understudy to Dan Carter, Barrett is now established as the All Blacks number 10. Of the five Barrett boys, three are in Sydney this week. Scott, 24, will start from the bench but Jordie, 21, didn't make the 23-man playing squad. Kane, 28, had a promising career as a forward with Auckland's Blues cut short by a bad concussion, while Blake, 22, plays for Coastal, a local team in Taranaki. Barrett concedes there's a lot of pressure on him, but says he's happy playing at that standard.

I'm keen to get back to what makes the All Blacks tick. Clearly a win rate north of 90 per cent engenders confidence, but there must be more to it than that. As Barrett describes life as an All Black, it strikes me that they've managed to find an elusive balance between talent and work, ethos and pathos, rules and respect.

No dickheads

"It's what we buy into when we're selected for this team," says Barrett. "But it's also what we do as a team. The coaches know what we need, how to mould us or teach us the right things at the right time. Our mental skills expert Gilbert Enoka is just amazing the work he does."

Enoka, who has been with the All Blacks for 17 years, has helped transform a culture that had failed to stand up to the pressure of the World Cup, most notably after their quarter-final loss to France in 2007. One of his guiding principals, and arguably a key factor in shaping the All Blacks culture, is what he describes as a No Dickheads policy.

Barrett is hoping to extend his record of played 12, won 10 and drawn 1 against the Wallabies. Peter Braig

"I don't think you can be a positive person on the rugby field and a prick off it," Enoka told stuff.co.nz in 2016. "If you're going to reach your potential, you've got to be who you are on and off."


That doesn't appear to be a problem for Barrett. As I order a flat white and he sticks with the tap water and happily shifts position to oblige the photographer, I note how transparent and direct he has been.

"We don't take anything for granted," he resumes. "We pride ourselves on preparing well and genuinely. It's quite easy to brush over the small details, your recovery, the little one percenters. There are so many little things that add up to the performance. There is a secret recipe. It's certainly not mastered but it's been worked on for a long time."

All Blacks culture

he prep goes to nutrition, weight, conditioning, psychology and, of course, rugby strategy and skills. Each player has an ideal playing weight – for 187-centimetre tall Barrett, it's 92 kilograms, "At 94 I'm sluggish, and less than 90 I feel underdone" – and when they start to stray they get an invite from the nutritionist for a pinch test.

But, Barrett says, the whole thing is based on mutual respect. For example, there are standards of fitness and performance that players are expected to meet and resources to help them get there. But for the players, the respect is theirs to lose.

"We're grown men. People can abuse it at times but it's very rare in this environment. There's a lot of trust."

When it does happen, there are consequences. "Whenever anyone steps out of line, or there's a hint of complacency or mishaps, they're pretty quick to be towed into line."

There is another factor motivating the All Blacks, of course, and that's the near fanatical Kiwi support and the expectations that come with it. These days they win so often that dissent seems hard to understand. But Barrett says big wins have become boring for some fans.


Big winner: Beauden Barrett was named Men's Player of the Year in 2017. AAP

"They're a tough crowd, you can have a big win and they're still not happy."

The challenger

Barrett has come in for personal criticism recently after a season with the Hurricanes that didn't quite hit the heights of previous years. At the same time young Crusaders playmaker Richie Mo'unga has emerged as a genuine challenger. After being feted for years the narrative has suddenly changed.

In March Ronan O'Gara, the Irish great now coaching with the Crusaders, said: "He fills grounds, he excites people. Everything that is good about rugby, is what Beauden Barrett does." This month he called for Barrett to be moved to fullback to make room for Mo'unga in the All Blacks.

I mention that stuff.co.nz has been running a poll on who should be chosen as fly half for the opening Bledisloe Cup match. It's clearly news to Barrett, who says he hasn't seen it. His look of mild surprise is soon replaced by mild relief as I report that two people chose him for every one that wanted Mo'unga. And on Thursday, coach Steve Hansen did, too, leaving Mo'unga out of the 23-man playing squad.

"I just stay off all that stuff," he says with conviction. "I don't read anything. I don't read the press. I've always valued my supporters and my haters are supporters in disguise. That's just the way it is. I run a couple of social media accounts and you can't help but look at comments every now and then. It's important to give feedback and respond to fans. Occasionally you get a couple of nasty ones. It makes you work that bit harder."

Million-dollar offer


As for the future, Barrett confirms that earlier this year a top French club offered him a lot of money to play in Europe. The amount, reported at the time as $NZ10 million ($) over three years, would have made him the highest paid rugby player in history. But Barrett says the All Blacks shirt outweighs the cash, for now at least.

"My priority is to stay here and play in the World Cup next year. That's all I'm focussed on at the moment. There will be a time, I don't know when. Probably when I need a change, for me and my fiance Hannah's benefit. That could happen, when it happens I'm not sure."

It's getting on but before we wrap there are a couple of questions I've promised to ask. I start with one that's been on my father's mind for most of this century. "Was it just me, or did Richie McCaw play offside for most of his career?"

Barrett lifts the Killip Cup after the captaining the All Blacks for the first time against the Barbarians at Twickenham, London, in November 2017. AP

"I'd have to agree with you when he was wearing a Crusaders jersey," he laughs, before pulling on his diplomat's hat. "But gosh, he was a good man to have on my side. I don't understand the offside rule at the breakdown anyway, so who am I to judge."

Who's the toughest player you've played with? "Conrad Smith, he's a tough, tough player. And Richie McCaw of course."

And who's the scariest to tackle? "If the Thor has a bit of pace up, the Tongan Thor [Wallaby prop Taniela Tupou], you don't really want to be in front of him." What about Brodie Retallick, New Zealand's 2.04 metre, 121 kilogram man-mountain, I ask. " He can run, yeah, yeah. We had a training session the other day where he got the ball and just eyed me up and ran hard at me. I just chopped him nice and low, a bread basket tackle. He complained afterwards because I have boney shoulders and got him right in the private parts. He wasn't happy."

And after the All Blacks, which nation has the best team? "In June I saw South Africa and Australia had made good gains. And Ireland, they're probably the next best. What we find is that whenever we play anyone they grow an extra arm, so no games are easy."


By the time Saturday rolls around the All Blacks prep is complete. Barrett will sleep in until 9am, have lunch of porridge and eggs, a half-hour nap in the afternoon and then head to ANZ Stadium, where Rugby Australia will hope there aren't too many empty seats.

After what has been a genuinely enjoyable late lunch, I wish him luck. But not as much as the Wallabies.

The bill

The Stillery

Intercontinental Hotel, Double Bay

Beauden Barrett scored the last-minute winning try against the Wallabies in a controversial match in Dunedin last year. AAP

1 salmon sashimi $22

1 gambas verde $26

1 flat white $5

Total $53


Beauden Barrett on a typical week with the All Blacks

"We always arrive at least on the Sunday before the match," says Barrett in his unhurried, understated manner. If they're playing in Argentina that's even longer - usually on the Friday - to allow enough time to get over any jetlag and a full week of "prep" before the match.

"Typically Monday and Tuesday are very heavy, strategic review, preview type content days. You're learning strategies, gameplans and implementing them in training.

"There's individual strategy meetings, whether it's attack or defence or leadership, there's various meetings which we split ourselves up into smaller groups so that people can focus on what we need to focus on.

"You're also in the gym on Monday and Tuesday so they're two very big days. Wednesday's a day off. So it's nice to just catch you breath."

"On Thursdays it's very intense but it's not long. It's sharper, at almost a game intensity. It's not that physical in terms of contact and hits, but you're springing out there, it's full on." Barrett says Thursday's also usually include a gym session and a couple of meetings. "And by Thursday night you're prep is pretty much done."

"Friday is just a captain's run really, which is you go to the stadium and run over a few plays. We're still working over the plays, and especially the kickers do more time kicking on a Friday, but most of the work is done by Thursday night."