Barnes defends Barrett's All Blacks recall as 'next best player' ahead of Bledisloe Cup

All Blacks senior assistant coach Neil Barnes has defended the selection of Beauden Barrett in New Zealand’s 34-man squad for the Bledisloe Cup, dismissing any suggestion the 145-Test veteran was picked on reputation alone.

Barrett was named in the outside-backs group in the squad announced this week, with Highlanders playmaker Josh Jacomb and Crusaders first-five Richie Mo’unga listed as the squad’s designated No.10 options. The reshuffle at fly-half was forced in part by an ankle injury to Ruben Love, who had started all six Tests under head coach Dave Rennie in 2026.

“Because he’s the next best player. It’s pretty simple. It’s not a charity,” Barnes told Sport Nation NZ. “He’s not there being looked after, for us. He’s the next best player in the positions that he’s covering at the moment, and has that experience to bring onto the paddock.”

Barnes, who sits on the All Blacks selection panel alongside Rennie and Sir Graham Henry, acknowledged the decision might look different with more distance from a World Cup. “If you were saying straight up, we had a World Cup in three years or something, you might say, well, let’s invest in the next cab off the rank,” he said. “But the World Cup is next year, and right at the moment, the other guys haven’t passed him. I can promise you that he’s not being looked after. He’s earned his stripes from what he does on the paddock.”

On the first-five pecking order, Barnes explained why Love had been preferred over Mo’unga during the southern-hemisphere Tests in South Africa earlier in the season. “We actually thought Ruben was the best person for the job because Richie had just come back in, was getting his feet under the table,” he said. “It was probably aligned to his ankle. He had a big load, and we actually thought at that stage Richie had got his head around everything we were doing.”

With Love now sidelined, Mo’unga moves to the front of the queue. “At the moment, obviously, Richie would have the front running,” Barnes confirmed, while also noting that Damian McKenzie offers further cover at No.10 alongside the emerging Jacomb. “We’re blessed for what we’ve got there, so there’s a lot of options.”