Blues star Otere Black is as selfless as selfless gets. The first-five player says he’s more than willing to walk the extra mile if it means helping his team – even if the sacrifice means having to be dropped from the team to make space for Beauden Barrett in the number 10.
Barrett’s constant under-performance has been inciting heavy criticism from all angles, with many questioning whether he should even be moved back to first-five at all. But according to a former Irish Lions first-five player, Barrett should be moved back into the position that got him voted two-time Rugby Player of the Year in the first place. Stuart Barnes, in his column for the Times, earlier this week weighed in on the situation with his opinion around Barrett and the number 10 position. Barnes also said that if Barrett were to be turned liability by something as unnecessary as being pushed into a forced position to which he isn’t suited, then New Zealand Rugby could ultimately end up losing one of the potentially greatest and most original players in the sport’s history.
The problem however is the effect that a failure to move Barrett into first-five is going to have on Black’s career. Black will essentially have to pay with his career because of Barrett’s string of poor performances, which doesn’t seem fair at all either.
But Black is for his part at peace with whatever the powers that be end up deciding of his fate while playing sport for the Blues, saying he only wants what is best for his team and for his mates.
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Trent Wilson is OnlineBetting.nz’s resident sports news expert. He draws on his extensive sporting knowledge, his qualification in sports management and his passion for betting to provide the latest, most up to date information on sporting events in New Zealand and across the globe. Trent is a veritable treasure trove of sports information and has been betting online for several years. He prides himself in keeping his readers informed, and in always offering an unbiased standpoint that reflects exactly what’s going on in the sports world.
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