Jordie Barrett shuts down claim ahead of final Springboks vs All Blacks Test
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Final Test.
Jordie Barrett has shut down the suggestion that Saturday’s Baltimore clash somehow sits outside the Springboks and All Blacks’ four-Test Greatest Rivalry series.
South Africa won two of the three Tests on home soil to establish a 2-1 lead before both teams travelled together to the United States for the series finale.
Asked whether he had spent any time considering the argument that the Baltimore Test doesn’t count towards the series because it is being played outside South Africa, Barrett was emphatic.
“Certainly not. Like, this Greatest Rivalry was always a four-game series,” Barrett told Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB.
“There has been a lot of talk about trying to win a test series in South Africa, and that’s what we wanted to do … this rivalry series is a four-game series, and we’ve got an opportunity to go two-all against a team who’s been well established back-to-back world champions.
“We’ve only been together for a little while, and we’ve got a chance to go two-all against them, and that’s the opportunity that excites us for this weekend.”
Despite consecutive defeats in Cape Town and Soweto, Barrett believes the All Blacks are making progress under Dave Rennie.
“We’ve learned a lot about ourselves in the past month, and you do learn a lot about yourself against the best team in the world and on the road.
“I’m confident we’re heading in the right direction, that’s where we want to go, and if we want to go to that place we’re probably going to end up playing the South Africans in a quarter-final in a Rugby World Cup.
“We are not overly pleased to be down 2-1 in the series, but look, we haven’t lost all hope in this group, and there’s a lot of positives to come out of our last three games against the Boks. We’re not far away.”
Barrett pointed to the fine margins across the opening three Tests, with New Zealand winning 33-16 at Ellis Park before suffering back-to-back defeats.
“What was it, 33-16 in that first test at Ellis Park, and we felt like South Africa probably had the wood over us for about 55 minutes.
“A couple of moments, they get a yellow card, and we win by two or three tries, and we walk away from that test match all happy, and we probably felt like we played better in game two and lost by seven points.
“And that’s just the way test matches are working at the moment, and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of it again in game three but there’s an opportunity for us to level the series two-all this week in the States.”
The All Blacks have also had to deal with a shortened turnaround and the loss of Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson and Quinn Tupaea to injury following the third Test.
Barrett nevertheless described the South African leg of the tour as some of the most memorable rugby an All Black can experience.
“It’s tough playing in their conditions, but it’s also the most memorable and enjoyable tests you’ll play as an All Black as well.
“As hard as the last three weeks have been for me, I’ve absolutely loved it.”
The Springboks can secure a 3-1 series victory in Baltimore, while an All Blacks win would leave the Greatest Rivalry series level at 2-2.
