Alive And Kicking

All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett has the rugby world at his feet. He wants more. Ahead of the Bledisloe Cup, he shares his secrets on how you can mentally steel yourself to peak under pressure.

- Luke Benedictus

As he places the ball on the turf, Beauden Barrett can feel his heart hammering inside his chest. He takes a long, deep breath and tries to ignore it. He tries not to consider the magnitude of this penalty kick. With just over 10 minutes left on the clock, the All Blacks are tied 12-apiece in the series decider against the British & Irish Lions. It’s descended into a brutal match of beserk intensity. Now, this is the endgame.

Barrett takes five steps backwards and stares at the ball. He tries not to think of how this clash of the hemispheres only happens every 12 years. He tries not to notice how, is it just him, or have the stadium floodlights suddenly gone hyper bright? He tries not to dwell on how the All Blacks haven’t lost a single game at Eden Park for 23 years. Or that, right now, four million New Zealanders are desperately watching his every move, imploring the All Blacks to prevail. Most of all, Barrett tries to blot out that he’s already shanked two of his kicks wide tonight.

Instead Barrett sets himself to channel the pressure into action. He takes a deep breath and exhales. He looks up at the posts – so white against the night sky – and narrows his focus. All his concentration is trained on the contact point between boot and ball. Barrett takes yet another breath. Then he strokes the ball cleanly through the posts.

“We don’t run away from it, we run towards the pressure,” Barrett says. “As All Blacks, that’s our normal. And it’s great.”