Beauden Barrett On How Ireland Have Gotten So Good In The Last Few Years
Jason Hennessy
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Details.
All Blacks playmaker says Ireland’s incredible attention to detail has been the main driving force behind their incredible improvement as a team over the last few years.
Barrett will come up against Ireland this weekend with New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium and has spoken of his country’s huge respect for the world champions’ nearest challengers.
“We haven’t played Ireland at home since [2012]. I’ve played them twice up here. It’s always tough. And once in Chicago,” Barrett told the Irish Times.
“That shows the strength of Ireland and how far they have come. So yeah, they have improved a lot. We respect them as a team.”
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has become renowned for his meticulous attention to detail, and Barrett feels that has played a huge role in their success in recent years.
“I don’t know the head coach [Joe Schmidt] too well, but I’ve played against [Andy] Farrell before and his defences,” Barrett added
“I know him personally as well as [Greg] Feek. So it just shows in their game.
“You’ve seen it come on from strength to strength in recent years. What I see is a dominant forward pack, a well-organised side – they get the small details right in their game. They’re very structured and they’ve got a good skillset to run ball in hand.”
