Beauden Barrett makes club rugby return as ABs season approaches

By Christopher Reive

All Black Beauden Barrett has made his return to rugby on New Zealand shores, suiting up for Coastal in the Taranaki Premier club rugby competition.

For the first time in 14 years, Barrett donned the green-and-white garb of the Rahotu-based club, playing in the second half of a 52-12 win over Inglewood.

Barrett had been in town as the guest speaker of a fundraiser for his alma mater Francis Douglas Memorial College, and got some minutes under his belt for the first time since returning home from a season in Japan with Toyota Verblitz. The last time Barrett played for the club was in 2010.

Coastal Rugby Club chair Janet Fleming said they had thought it would be a possibility for Barrett to make his return this weekend once he had confirmed he would be in Taranaki. Barrett was not listed on the team sheet, but Fleming said that was because the club weren’t sure he would be cleared to play by the union.

“We did have it in mind that he might play, and if he did play it would be that weekend,” Fleming said.

“There was never a guarantee that he was going to play, and injury-wise as well, we actually didn’t know if he was going to play, the team managers didn’t know he was going to play until Saturday morning.”

A strong crowd turned out for the contest after news circulated around the club that the 123-test All Black would be in attendance for the game, as was his brother and fellow All Blacks veteran Scott Barrett. However, Fleming said Barrett had requested that no one tipped the media off to the possibility of him playing.

“We were hopeful he was going to play so we spread the message around all our juniors that if he was ever going to play this was probably going to be the week, but we asked them not to go to the media because that was Beauden’s wish,” Fleming said.

“He wanted to be a Coastal lad, just one of the team, and he didn’t want the game to be about him. We respected that and told everyone to just tell their families, spread the word with the neighbours, and just in true coastal grapevine [fashion], the message got out that he was going to be there, we just didn’t know if he would be playing.”

Barrett has spent time training with the Blues since making his return to New Zealand and there had been discussions as to whether or not the Super Rugby Pacific side might include him in their squad for the home stretch of the season.

The Blues confirmed they were seeking clarification around the application process for including him in the squad for the remainder of this season, however he was ruled to be ineligible.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Rugby Direct podcast in May, New Zealand Rugby’s head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum explained the process for players to be able to turn out in Super Rugby after stints abroad.

“You’re unlikely to see any of them in Super Rugby,” Lendrum said. “The competition rules are that anyone playing offshore as of April 1 in a Super competition year can’t play in the finals.

“The very most you would see is someone coming back in as an emergency replacement for a few games to fill a gap.

“Even then, they need dispensation from the competition. Obviously, it’s not impossible, but it’s not that likely.”

Barrett is, however, available for selection in the first All Blacks’ squad of the season for their series against England, which begins early next month.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission