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Beauden Barrett admits revenge a motivation against likely QF opponents
By Ian Cameron
All Blacks stand-off cum fullback Beauden Barrett has admitted the prospect of revenge against potential quarter-final opponents Ireland is part of the mix.
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New Zealand drubbed Uruguay 73-0 victory in Pool A at OL Stadium on Thursday, sealing a Rugby World Cup quarter-final spot for Ian Foster’s side. If France beat Italy tonight in Lille, then the All Blacks will potentially face Ireland in the quarters, provided Andy Farrell’s men can battle past Scotland in Paris tomorrow night.
Ireland beat the All Blacks for the first time on New Zealand soil last year and also won their first-ever series against the men in black, coming away 2-1 winners in what was an unprecedented moment for Irish rugby. It was also – needless to say – an incredibly dark moment in the annals of New Zealand rugby.
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It’s still only theoretical but the revenge carrot is a motivation according to Barrett.
“We learned a lot during that series [the 2022 series loss to Ireland in New Zealand]. It was a challenging time, some of the most challenging times we’ve faced as an All Black team and personally, losing a series in our backyard. But what we know is the beast that Ireland are and if you allow them to dictate up front and play they want they want to, they are a tough team to stop.
“So if it’s Ireland in the quarter-finals it’s going to be great because there’s a lot of us who are pretty keen to get one up on them and still hurting from what happened last year.”
Ireland did however beat Ireland relatively comfortably in the quarter-final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, so there’s that.
“Yes, there’s memories there. The game’s changed somewhat since that so it’s all on the day. It’s all about who turns up on the day, we learned that in the semi-final last World Cup. You’ve just got to be able to maintain that intensity for three test matches when it comes to the knock-out rugby.
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“It takes a full squad, team effort. Everyone’s got to be fully onboard and every decision from here on in until kick-off is for the benefit of the team and to give ourselves the best shot. Looking to 2015, there was a lot of positives. Each knock-out game was so different to another and it was the same in Japan and Tokyo – the contrast between a dominant performance against Ireland and then a team who were eyeing us for a while in England and stunned us a little. We’re not looking anywhere past the quarter-final, whoever it is because that’s our final at this stage.”
Ireland v Ireland, an intriguing prospect. One that suggests that Ireland B would be the most difficult opponent in the world for Ireland A. :) Joking aside, the QF should be an absolute cracker. It would be very foolish to write off the AB’s but Ireland’s form and record against the AB’s since the last world cup should give them the edge….
Truer words have not been spoken.
I’m backing Ireland but people forget that NZ blew Ireland Way in the first game of the test series. Ireland won’t have a game to sort out NZ this time. Should be a cracker!
It's Ireland's to lose (if that is indeed the match up). The greatest Irish team of all time against the worst NZ team this century. It's now or never for Ireland, time will tell if they are good enough, I guess.
Its never now or never - there’s always another world cup. Ireland has been noticeably stronger at U20s than NZ in recent years. There’s every chance that NZ win this one and Ireland gets them next time.
Ireland will want even bigger revenge for 2019. Be a good game. To Ireland 🇮🇪
On that basis, Ireland will probably want revenge against every QF opponent for the last 30+ years! Yep, potentially good game to watch - Ireland still have to get past Scotland though.
Ireland beat Scotland?
Hmm ‘Ireland did beat Ireland relatively comfortably in the 2019 RWC’ - there’s a wee typo in that sentence. I think Ian could mean Japan beat Ireland?
New Zealand beat Ireland in the 2019 QF…