“He’s been phenomenal all year. He was outstanding in South Africa. He’s taken his game to another level,” Rennie said. “It’s not just the skills set but he’s got a massive engine and then his physicality. He was excellent again tonight. He had a little bit of a hematoma and we weren’t sure how long he’d last after half time but he was able to run that off. It was nice to sub him with 10 to go.”
Such was Barrett’s imposing physical presence, leading the All Blacks with 16 tackles, Taylor suggested he wouldn’t look out of place in the loose forward ranks.
“He could probably have a six, seven, eight on his back,” Taylor said. “He hasn’t been saying too much of late but his actions are world-class. He’s earned the right to be called one of the best 12s in the world. His brutality, everything he does he’s physical. That’s what you want to see as a forward.”
While the All Blacks significantly improved their aerial work and brutality from the forward pack they could potentially lose Scott Barrett, Anton Segner, Asafo Aumua and Leroy Carter for next week’s return test against the Wallabies in Sydney.
Barrett, Segner and Aumua suffered late head knocks while Carter sustained a potentially serious ankle injury in a hip drop tackle that is likely to earn Wallabies loose forward Rob Valetini a suspension.
That injury toll adds to an already lengthy casualty ward that includes Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson, Ruben Love, Richie Mo’unga and Caleb Clarke among others.
“Scott failed his [HIA] test. He’s pretty good we think so he’s still an option for this week assuming he passes all the protocols,” Rennie said. “Anton was keen to play on but was told he had to go. It’s niggly because we’ve got a limited amount of guys travelling.”
Carter’s prognosis does not sound positive which could force another change on the revolving left wing.
“It didn’t look good, a hip drop type tackle and landed on his back so it’s his ankle. I haven’t had a chance to talk to the doc yet but it seemed reasonably serious. I’m sure it’s not intentional but that’s the way the game is going.”
As for the team performance, Rennie was satisfied with the specific areas they targeted.
“I thought a quality performance was coming but we were also playing a quality side. We did a good job looking after the ball, we played at the right end of the field, we created good momentum and pressure and benefitted from that.
“We talked about a number of areas that needed to be better coming out of Africa and we saw good shifts tonight. I’m very happy with the mindset, brutality and work ethic tonight.
“Retrieving or receiving those kicks is difficult. Teams are catching one out of four. That’s the nature of the game at the moment. Our guys did an excellent job winning it in the air or picking up scraps. That was a good shift.
“They’ll be hurting. They’ve had a really good year and I’m really confident they’ll bounce back next week.”
Taylor noted the tone was set at the start of the week as they reviewed the South African tour and the importance of retaining the Bledisloe Cup for a 24th straight year.
“We had good honest conversations with each other. We set the precedent with where we want this team to go. We talked a lot about having the appropriate edge, knowing Australia will be really confident.
“When Tana Umaga, who has experienced both sides of the Bledisloe, gives you a bit of a spray you feel that as a player and you’ve got a responsibility as an All Black to make sure you respond. I feel we did that tonight through our physicality.”
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