Beauden Barrett enjoying family comforts in World Cup pressure cooker

As well as being a ridiculously brilliant rugby player, Beauden Barrett is an extremely enthusiastic golfer, and no doubt a natural at that too. You get the impression he’s one of those that stood out at school in all sports. There’s always at least one.

In any event, having met Shane Lowry for dinner last week, Barrett met with Rory McIlroy on Wednesday evening.

“There was a bit of chat about both games, he was obviously in the crowd and he’s a proud Irishman. He was pretty complimentary with how we played, he wasn’t too happy with the result.

“It was good to have a chat, he’s a great, down-to-earth guy. I love golf, he loves rugby and watches from the States. It was pretty cool to share some time with him yesterday.”

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This week, Beauden has been rooming with his brother Scott for the first time since the four Barrett brothers were sharing bunk beds back in the family farm home in Pungarehu, a small town in South Taranaki.

“He’s a bit bigger now,” said Barrett at the All Blacks media day in Tokyo. “I’m guessing that top bunk he slept in back then probably wouldn’t fit him anymore. I was on the bottom bunk. It’s great to room with him and he’s clearly got his rugby cap on because the other night he was sleep talking and he was calling lineout moves in his sleep. I guess he’d be second or third in line but that’s what’s going through his head, that’s for sure.

“To be honest, we don’t talk too much footy. We keep it pretty casual in the room as we like to do. He’s my brother, I’m rooming with him and we’re in Tokyo. Usually when it’s time to talk rugby it’s around the rugby field or in meetings. We don’t like to talk about it all the time.”

It is to the credit of their father Kevin ‘Smiley’ Barrett that all three of his All Blacks’ playing sons are so versatile. From being a sublimely gifted outhalf who won back to back World Player of the Year titles, Beauden’s pace, vision and creative talents have flourished even more at fullback. And he’s also played for them on the wing.

Jordan’s versatility enabled him to cover everywhere from outhalf to fullback, and hence he is on the bench, while Scott’s ability to play blindside as well as lock means he is promoted to the starting lineup.

As to why they share such versatility, they effectively could wear nine differently numbered jerseys between them, Beauden said: “I’m not sure. I mean, as a back the skill-sets are pretty similar for 10 and 15. For Jordie, he can cover midfield too because of his size and physicality. For Scott, because of his skill-set, he has good handling and ball-carrying so he can play six well too.”

Towards the end of Smiley Barrett’s distinguished playing career as a number 8 with Taranaki, he and his wife Robyn decamped to Ireland, where Barrett was a farm manager in Ballinacree in County Meath.

They went on January 5th, 2000, and stayed for 16 months. Beauden was eight at the time and attended St Fiach’s National School along with older brothers Kane and Scott, then six. Robyn was at home with Blake (four and a half), Jordie (almost three) and baby Genna. Zara and Ella were born after they returned to New Zealand in April 2001.

Smiley Barrett, then 34, joined Buccaneers for the 2000-01 season, playing in the second-row. By contrast, the boys focused on football - Beauden becoming a fan of Manchester United and Real Madrid, and Gaelic football.

Family get-togethers have become a much more regular occurrence since Scott and Jordan followed Beauden into the All Blacks squad, and they have been setting all sorts of landmarks along the way. At this World Cup, they became the first trio of brothers to play for a team in one match.

Alas, last week’s reunion was tinged with sadness, as it followed the passing of Smiley’s father Ted, both of whose grandparents were Irish, just over a week before the quarter-final. On foot of which, the sight of seeing both Beauden and Jordan score tries in the win over Ireland was quite a tonic.

“Yeah, look last week was a tough week for him so it was awesome to share that moment with him,” said Beauden. “He’s called Smiley for a reason, that grin of his comes out quite often and it’s always good to see. He’s just a proud dad.

“Obviously it was a tough time. Gilbert Enoka (the All Blacks’ mental skills coach) was great in that space and the team around supporting us and giving us the option to head home if that’s what we needed to do. As I say, it’s awesome to have dad here and plenty of support from back home also.”

Beauden rarely seems less than utterly relaxed at all times, even before and during Test matches, and could be seen smiling before taking the kick-off against Ireland last Saturday.

“I mean, we had to remind themselves before the game... as the pressure comes on, you have to take a moment to remind yourself and realise where you are.

“Ultimately, you’re playing a game that you love so enjoying those moments as much as possible is so important. Yeah, if we play well it helps with that factor. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and we’re out there giving it our best, hopefully having fun doing it.”

It helps, of course, when you’re as good as him.