James Marshall coaches him at the Crusaders. Ben Searle says he is disrespected, and that Ardie Savea keeps the armband anyway. What A Lad, Monday.
“I feel like he’s one of the most underrated players in this country. Like, he seems to get a hard time.”
James Marshall said that about Scott Barrett on the What A Lad Podcast on Monday 14 September, and Marshall is the Crusaders backs coach, so he works with Barrett every week. Barrett has not played since May. Back surgery, up to five months out, three July Tests and the whole Springboks tour missed.
While he was on the operating table the All Blacks captaincy went to Ardie Savea. Ben Searle, host of the Searley Talks Sport podcast, went further than the coach. Barrett is “disrespected amongst New Zealand rugby circles”, he said, and Savea should keep the captaincy anyway, because that is the best thing that could happen to him. Marshall did not argue.
So when Barrett is fit again in November, does Savea keep the captaincy?
Scott Barrett, the forgotten man of the tour, has 88 Tests
Marshall brought Barrett up without being asked, straight after Tamaiti Williams, the other Crusader on his way back from something worse.
“The other one, sort of forgotten man at the moment, Scott Barrett. Like, he’s going to come back into the frame. I think he’s not far away from NPC, so he’ll play the end of year tour, whether he just slots back into one of those locking spots. He is, I feel like he’s one of the most underrated players in this country. Like, he seems to get a hard time. Some people saying he’ll have to earn his way back in, but this guy has been an absolute beast and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing him back in that black jersey.”
Forgotten is the right word for a man with 88 Tests. Barrett was named All Blacks captain in June 2024 and has led the Crusaders since 2020. He turns 33 in November.
His 2026 was meant to be a non-playing sabbatical to fix an ankle before the World Cup, and it became a back that would not settle.
Rob Penney, the Crusaders head coach, said on 27 May: “He’s tried every non-invasive trick you can do to get right and it just hasn’t come off so he’ll be in the operating theatre by the end of the week.”
Five months from the end of May is the end of October. The first Nations Championship game in Europe is at Murrayfield on 7 November. Nobody at the Crusaders or Taranaki has put a date on his return, so “not far away from NPC” is a coach’s estimate, not a team announcement.
The hard time Marshall describes has two reference points, and every argument about Barrett reaches for them. Perth, 2019: a shoulder into Michael Hooper’s neck, a red card after 39 minutes, three weeks off and a 47-26 defeat.
Twickenham, August 2023: two yellow cards from Matthew Carley, the second for a clear-out on Malcolm Marx, a 35-7 loss and no further ban. Two red cards in 88 Tests. The reputation has outlived the count.
Ardie Savea keeps the captaincy, and Searle says that is the point
Searle’s answer to Marshall was not a defence of Barrett. It was a selection call.
“This new regime and him coming into it excites me. I think [Ardie] will stay as skipper, personally, and I think that’ll free Scotty up as well to do the stuff he’s really good at, which is physical. Be a menace. You know, the dark arts. He’s like an old school lock in that, but then don’t underestimate his ability to play with the ball and the engine on the bloke… when you take the biggest knock on him, was, is he the All Blacks captain or not? I feel like that was the biggest debate. It was never whether he’s a good footballer. And while he does have some cards in him or things like that at times, we need a bit of that mongrel back in there, too.”
Dave Rennie named Savea captain of his first squad on 22 June, with Barrett already out. AP’s report that day said Barrett “likely would have relinquished the captaincy under a new, future-focused coaching regime”.
Savea had captained the side 13 times before that, most recently when Barrett was injured. He led it at the first Test at Ellis Park, went off after half an hour in Soweto with a dislocated shoulder, and Codie Taylor captained Baltimore. A 3-1 series defeat with 49 players used has not cost him the room.
Searle’s reason is the one that holds. A captain at lock spends the stoppages with the referee. A lock without the armband spends them reading the opposition lineout.
In Baltimore, New Zealand chose not to contest at the lineout and could not stop on the second shove when Marx scored from the maul on 49. That is a lock’s job, and it is the job Barrett did for eight years before anyone gave him a title.
Read also: the Baltimore ratings, where three locks scored a 6 each.
Two locks who rotate, and nobody sure which two
Searle again, on what the tour settled: “We have lock depth now. It’s just who are we putting in. That is the question.”
And then, on Barrett: “Does it actually make things clearer knowing that he is starting and then you only need one more guaranteed starter? Because I feel like at the moment we don’t know who our two starters are.”
The Baltimore marks make his point. Patrick Tuipulotu, first start of the series against South Africa, a 6 for “fifty-four minutes without a moment either way”, then off for Wallace Sititi with Tupou Vaa’i moving back to lock. Sam Darry, a 6, off on 57.
Josh Lord, a 6, “no involvement the cameras found”. Fabian Holland was ill and missed the Test. Five men played lock across the four Tests, and nine All Blacks went home injured before the second row could settle.
Searle answered it himself.
“They both rotate. So maybe having him locked in would really help. But I think under this current setup, we will see the best out of Scott Barrett, which is exciting, cuz yeah, I feel like he’s disrespected amongst New Zealand rugby circles a lot of the time.”
Disrespected is a fan’s word, and Searle is a fan with a microphone. The coach’s word was underrated, and it is the milder one. Neither needs the other to stand. The case stands on three 6s and a maul nobody stopped.
What to watch for in November
A five-month window that opened at the end of May closes after the Bledisloe Cup Tests on 10 and 17 October. November is Scotland, Wales and England, then the finals weekend in London, and that is where the argument gets settled on the field rather than on a podcast.
The tell is the first lineout New Zealand defend inside their own 22. A lock who runs the defensive lineout makes one decision in the first second: attack the jumper in the air, or set the counter-drive before the maul forms. Hesitate and the second shove comes, which is what Marx did to them in Baltimore.
Watch which lock is talking before the throw, and watch whether the maul gets to move twice.
Read next: Tamaiti Williams walked out of hospital 18 kilos lighter, and Marshall says he is coming back too. The Crusaders are about to hand the All Blacks a prop and a lock in the same month.
Your turn: Savea or Barrett?
Two ways to see it. Either Savea keeps the captaincy because he has earned it through a series that broke half the squad, and Barrett comes back as the lock with the edge Searle wants. Or the captaincy was Barrett’s, he lost it to a surgeon rather than a selector, and it goes back to him the day he is fit. Which one?
Frequently asked
When will Scott Barrett return for the All Blacks?
No date has been confirmed. He had back surgery at the end of May 2026 with a recovery window of up to five months. James Marshall said on 14 September that he is “not far away from NPC” and expects him to play the November Tests.
Who is the All Blacks captain in 2026?
Ardie Savea, named by Dave Rennie on 22 June 2026 with Barrett injured. Codie Taylor captained the fourth Test in Baltimore after Savea dislocated a shoulder in Soweto.
How many Tests has Scott Barrett played?
Eighty-eight since his debut in 2016. He was named All Blacks captain in June 2024 and has captained the Crusaders since 2020.
