Beauden Barrett admits he is attacking Super Rugby pre-season with one key goal in mind – laying claim to the vacant All Blacks No.10 jersey.
With Dan Carter now having moved to France to bring down the curtain on a stellar All Black career, the queue is forming to replace the great man.
Barrett – who scored a try from the bench in the World Cup final last year – led the Hurricanes to the runners-up berth in last year’s Super Rugby.
The winners, the Highlanders, were piloted by Lima Sopoaga – who made his All Black debut against South Africa last summer – and is also a serious contender for the fly-half role.
And that is without mentioning Aaron Cruden, whose season was cruelly cut short by injury last year forcing him to miss the World Cup.
Barrett has 36 caps for New Zealand but only eight starts and with the British & Irish Lions tour on the horizon in 18 months, the 24-year-old is keen to get one up on his rivals.
“All I can worry about and focus on is playing well for this side and getting myself into that position to do so [claim the number ten jersey],” Barrett told Stuff.
“That’s my focus for pre-season, working hard and working on my skills so that it does happen.
“Usually we’d return in late January, but this is probably better for us [All Blacks] coming in at this time because it means we’ll be in better condition come kickoff, which is great and we’ve had plenty of time off since the World Cup, so we’re raring to go.”
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