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FWC: USA vs BEL live on SN ExtraJordie Barrett: Defensive struggles and leaving past habits behind
Regan Harrison • July 7th, 2026 11:56 am
Jordie Barrett | Photo: Photosport
The All Blacks' close victory over the French has opened the debate for what changes could be made ahead of their Nations Championship clash with Italy.
One of the key doubts focuses around their edge defence being exploited multiple times throughout the game.
All Black midfielder Jordie Barrett said on Sport Nation Breakfast the team were unsure what the French would throw at them around the running game, and that was attributed to their weaknesses in the match.
“If you haven't created any wits in your defensive line and overloads come in, it can be hard to stop. So yeah, we certainly didn't get a lot of those edge decisions right.”
Jordie credited this to the All Blacks not being able to spend as much time as they would have liked to on the defensive side of the game due to their limited build-up following the Super Rugby Pacific final - but believes they’ll be fixed easily after a couple touch-ups.
The running game was evident for both teams, with the All Blacks registering an 81% lightning-quick ball rate, Jordie Barrett saying the low kicking rate was part of the team’s game plan.
“Certainly from our side, the plan was to kick a whole lot less than we probably have in the past. And, yeah, just looking for opportunities to run from our own half, even deep in our own 22,” Jordie noted.
This can be partly accredited to the All Blacks newly appointed attack coach Mike Blair, with the Scotsman following along with Dave Rennie from the Kobe Steelers in Japan.
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Jordie talks highly of Blair, within the small sample size he’s been around him.
“He's been good, nice and positive. Yeah, fresh ideas and a bit of a fearless notion around attack, and in some ways it's pretty similar to the way we tried to do things with the Hurricanes.”
Barrett talked on the fearless notion, with the team not being worried with the goal line pressure behind them and taking the risk to attack with ball in hand.
Jordie says “we'll need to keep growing it because as you know there's perceived risk within that system but there's also a whole lot more opportunities that we're creating too.”
The All Blacks face Italy this Saturday in Wellington, with the coaching staff saying there could be changes to try out new combinations.
Jordie Barrett follows this saying, it probably isn’t the most ideal in the short term, but the benefits long-term down the track with the growth it can bring to the squad are the most ideal.
Barrett adds to this, saying the plan is to “maximise the output of the squad and get everyone up to sync, and, in terms of the way that we're trying to play… Once we get everyone in tune, I think it's going to benefit the All Blacks going forward a whole lot more.”
Barrett says it's an exciting way of trying to plan and that all the boys are loving being in the system at the moment.
Listen to the full interview below:
