The thing no one is talking about after Beauden Barrett’s try scoring disaster
Beauden Barrett dropped the mother of all clangers on Saturday as the Blues lost to the Chiefs 20-13 at the FMG Stadium, as he put a foot dead just before diving to score.
The mistake was not actually too costly as the Blues scored just a few minutes later through Caleb Clarke, but it was a mistake that summed up his game.
As bad as the mistake was, one thing that has barely been mentioned is the effort of Chiefs lock and Barrett’s All Blacks teammate Tupou Vaa’i, who pursued Barrett and produced the tap tackle that forced him out of play. The lock actually looked as though he had given up after the No10 had crossed the line, but had a quick change of heart, and it paid off.
One fan wrote on Twitter: “Where is the love for Tupou Vaa’i here? Could have pulled up but pressured Barrett to the point that he and he only saved the try. Exceptional effort. A classic ‘101’ for any aspiring player – never, ever, ever give up.”
Where is the love for Tupou Vaa’i here? Could have pulled up but pressured Barrett to the point that he and he only saved the try. Exceptional effort. A classic '101' for any aspiring player – never, ever, ever give up.
— Mal_Varez (@mattfa91) April 2, 2023
After that, Super Rugby gave the All Black the credit he deserves, as the Chiefs went on to extend their unbeaten start to the season and maintain their position at the top of the table.
Take a look at the try:
Tupou with the PRESSURE 🎥👇 pic.twitter.com/mD3PUuk6DX
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) April 4, 2023
Chiefs captain Brad Weber said after the match: “It was good to (score) about 30 seconds in which was a great start.
“We owed these guys one after last year. They embarrassed us on our home turf so you could see the desperation in the defence in the second half.
“That was what that was all about.”
“We always know it’s going to be a big job coming down here,” Blues captain Dalton Papali’i said.
“Every game against these guys is a Test match. The boys prepared well but we just didn’t execute some moments out there and it cost us.”
