FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Autumn Internationals - Italy v New Zealand - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - November 23, 2024 New Zealand's Beauden Barrett in action REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Beauden Barrett played his first Super Rugby match way back in 2011 but the 33-year-old believes he's got a couple of years left in him yet as he embarks on another new season with the Auckland Blues this weekend.
The All Blacks playmaker was on sabbatical in Japan last year when the Blues finally clinched the prize that had eluded them for 27 years but he has returned to help them defend the title.
"There's no illusion that we need to be better than we were last year. We're already working hard on that," the 33-year-old said at the Super Rugby Pacific launch last week.
"The difference is that for the first time in a long time, people are chasing us this year rather than us chasing.
"It's a privilege to be in that position, but with privilege comes a lot more pressure, and we've got to embrace that and stay focused within and not lose sight of where we're going as a team."
With 132 tests for the All Blacks, a World Cup triumph and two World Player of the Year awards to his name, Barrett knows all about pressure.
On Saturday, he will experience it again in front a big crowd at Eden Park as the Blues open their title defence against the Waikato Chiefs in a rematch of last year's final.
As has happened at times in the All Blacks set-up in recent seasons, Barrett will start the match at fullback even if he considers himself at heart a flyhalf, or first five eighth in New Zealand parlance.
"I enjoy playing first five eighth and I can play at full back," he added.
"Those are my two positions (but) it's always been about the team, and team first."
Barrett believes his two sabbaticals away from New Zealand rugby have helped keep him fresh and extended his career. He does not rule out taking another, either by going back to Japan or even getting a taste of French club rugby.
The end game, though, is to be playing his best rugby in the famous black shirt of his country at a fourth World Cup in Australia in 2027.
"That's the long term plan," he told Reuters. "I've got that option to go all the way through, but I've also got options to leave sooner if that's what I feel is right.
"At the moment, I'm literally just taking it one small season at a time. So it's all about Super Rugby for now.
"I think it'd be obvious what my decisions will be based on how well I enjoy the next four or five months, and checking in with my family all the time is the most critical part of that."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Stephen Coates)
