All Blacks superstar Beauden Barrett has given Australia’s bolstered Super Rugby Pacific sides the nod of approval, even claiming New Zealand’s decades-long domination of the competition could be under threat.
Not since the NSW Waratahs’ famous final triumph over the mighty Crusaders in 2014 has an Australian team hoisted the trophy.
The Queensland Reds in 2011 are the only other Aussie outfit to rule in the past 20 years.
Barrett, though, believes the Waratahs, Reds, benchmark ACT Brumbies and Western Force will also greatly benefit from an influx of Wallabies stars courtesy of the Melbourne Rebels’ demise.
Asked if he expected his defending champion Blues and the other New Zealand powerhouses the Crusaders, Chiefs, Hurricanes and Highlanders would continue beating up on their trans-Tasman rivals in 2025, Barrett said: “I get the suspicion that it won’t be the case”.
“Obviously with the Rebels not being part of the competition, each team’s strengthened by players spreading out,” he said.
“So it’s obviously very early to say, yes, these are teams on paper but I think each team will be improved respectively.”
On paper, the Waratahs, who finished with the wooden spoon last season, boast a near-all-Wallabies starting side under first-year coach and former Brumbies mentor and Wallabies assistant Dan McKellar.
Barrett says it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Tahs could pull off an incredible last-to-first feat in 2025.
“It’s hard to get my head around the fact they came last. It’s hard to believe,” Barrett said.
“Certainly with the players who are there, it will be all about how quickly they come together as a team and gel, but I certainly wouldn’t write them off.”
Barrett insists his respect for the Australian teams is genuine and also stems from the strides the Wallabies made under Kiwi coach and former All Blacks World Cup assistant Joe Schmidt.
“The change we saw with the Wallabies under Joe Schmidt, I think you’ll also certainly see a step up at Super level with the movement, his trajectory with where they’re going.
“The influence Joe Schmidt’s had, a lot of that will come through with McKellar and the way the Waratahs want to play.
“But in terms of personnel, the Waratahs are a star-studded side.”
New Zealand have also had a mortgage on the Bledisloe Cup since 2003 and the Kiwi in Barrett also hopes Schmidt opts against extending his stay in Australia beyond this year’s hosting of the British and Irish Lions.
“I know how much of a value add he is to Rugby Australia and the Wallabies so as an All Black I hope that he doesn’t sign on,” Barrett said.
“But I know how good it will be for the Wallabies if he does.
“He’s a great man and great coach so I don’t know, but I think he’ll know fairly soon what he wants to do.”
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