{"id":504494,"date":"2026-07-01T12:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T12:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/504494\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T12:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T12:47:18","slug":"all-blacks-v-france-neil-barnes-brings-plain-talk-and-fresh-edge-to-all-blacks-set-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/504494\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks v France: Neil Barnes brings plain talk and fresh edge to All Blacks set-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barnes has previously worked with Italy under Kieran Crowley. He\u2019s familiar with international rugby \u2013 though this is undoubtedly a level up in ability and expectation. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a significant step up from his last post, heading Taranaki\u2019s NPC side.<\/p>\n

\"NeilNeil Barnes (right) with All Blacks halfback Cortez Ratima during a session at Christ’s College in Christchurch. Photo \/ Anna Heath. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re dealing with a different standard of player here. You have to coach a little bit differently, too. They have a lot more ownership. They just take things in their own grasp.\u201d <\/p>\n

And they grasp things very quickly. <\/p>\n

\u201cWay quicker than I\u2019m used to, to be honest.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest\u201d seems like a redundant clarification from Barnes, who comes across as fluent in sincerity. Still, he uses the phrase six times in the nine minutes that he gives the media towards the end of training at Christ\u2019s College\u2019s meticulously groomed \u201cUpper\u201d field. <\/p>\n

Barnes honestly defends his charges, too. Challenged on the effectiveness of the All Blacks\u2019 scrum in recent times, he was quick to retort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese boys are primed ready to go. We won\u2019t be playing second to anyone in that field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Away from the media scrum, Barnes is a magnet to his young players. The tall figure casually makes his way around the group during training, working with halfbacks and hookers, props, locks and loosies. Anyone who might know their way to a lineout.<\/p>\n

\"AllAll Blacks assistant coach Neil Barnes with Jordie Barrett, George Bower and Fletcher Newell at Christ’s College ahead of the first test of the year against France. Photo \/ Anna Heath. <\/p>\n

When training ends, they gravitate towards him, and he extends a reassuring arm across the shoulders of all who enter his orbit. There is a warmth to Barnes and a calm focus across the group. <\/p>\n

The work on the training pitch is demanding, but the team is determined in their effort \u2013 and they are enthusiastically encouraged by the heavily track-suited coaching collective. From Barnes and his fellow assistants, the messaging is clear \u2013 as is its source.<\/p>\n

\u201cRens has been talking about it the whole time, being brilliant at basics. Being organised and allowing the players to take ownership when you get to the end of the week,\u201d Barnes says, before describing his own role as \u201cguiding\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AllAll Blacks head coach Dave Rennie. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

The notion of transferring ownership to the players at \u201cthe end of the week\u201d was also spoken about by fellow assistant Jason Ryan when he fronted the media on Monday. The plan to empower players to take charge of a game that they will ultimately play, shows a willingness to unshackle the All Blacks\u2019 individual and collective talents. <\/p>\n

\u201cTake a positive outlook on things, not worry about the consequences if it doesn\u2019t go well. We\u2019re here to make sure it goes well and challenge other teams,\u201d Barnes says.<\/p>\n

That positivity will be underpinned by muscle up front. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a game of rugby and you have to match other teams with whatever they bring, and physicality is just a part of any game plan.<\/p>\n

\"BackBack to school; All Blacks star Damien McKenzie fronts media after a training session at his former school, Christ’s College. Photo \/ Anna Heath. <\/p>\n

The first opponent to face the new All Blacks direction is a French team brought to New Zealand by famously bespectacled and vastly experienced coach Fabien Galthie. <\/p>\n

They will arrive without a host of first-choice players who have only recently played in the final of their domestic Top 14 competition. Barnes has no interest in reports that it\u2019s a \u201cB team\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care who they bring. It\u2019s a French team. They\u2019ll be able to play. They\u2019ll be physical, and we\u2019re going to have to be at our very best to beat them,\u201d quips Barnes. <\/p>\n

There is an expectation that the visitors will employ a barrage of aerial attacks. Don\u2019t expect too much tit-for-tat. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf box-kicking is what you\u2019re talking about, it has a use in the game. At the moment I just think it\u2019s a little bit overboard what teams are doing with it. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if people want to kick us the ball, we\u2019ll be doing our best to retrieve it. We\u2019ve got a plan around that, and we might even try and use it,\u201d Barnes says.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne NZ stadium in Christchurch with a temporary stand at the northern end to increase capacity to 30,000 for the All Blacks v France test on Saturday. Photo \/ Anna Heath. <\/p>\n

With dry, still conditions guaranteed inside One NZ Stadium \u2013 and a management team delivering a vision as clear as the roof above it, the first test of a new era in All Blacks\u2019 rugby promises to be unmissable.<\/p>\n

Mike Thorpe<\/a> is a senior multimedia journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barnes has previously worked with Italy under Kieran Crowley. He\u2019s familiar with international rugby \u2013 though this is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5263,95,2731,58422,8136,1038,49722,3768,11746,1221,8456,42,3822,11788,43,196336,5351,52492,32128,45341,112804,11227,107,1529,61,40,38,41,39,178828,27630],"class_list":["post-504494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-all","tag-and","tag-assistant","tag-barnes","tag-blacks","tag-brings","tag-coaching","tag-communication","tag-edge","tag-france","tag-fresh","tag-headlines","tag-meat","tag-neil","tag-news","tag-plain","tag-previous","tag-regime","tag-salad","tag-served","tag-setup","tag-talk","tag-then","tag-three","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-veg","tag-word"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}