All Blacks great Justin Marshall has explained why he believes Jordie Barrett should have a new centre partner this season.<\/b><\/p>\n
Ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, previous head coach Ian Foster settled on a midfield axis of Barrett and Rieko Ioane, which proved successful in their run to the final.<\/p>\n
Scott Robertson took over following that tournament and unsurprisingly continued with those two at centre, but they struggled to fire in 2024.<\/p>\n
Ioane\u2019s struggles in 2025<\/p>\n
With Ioane<\/a> form issues remaining during the Blues\u2019 Super Rugby Pacific campaign, questions are still being asked about that 13 slot.<\/p>\n Part of the All Blacks\u2019<\/a> issue, Marshall reckons, is with Barrett<\/a> and the fact that their skill sets are not complementing each other.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there are defenders in your face but there is an opportunity to let rip with a pass, both Jordie and Rieko will seek the contact rather than let rip with that pass,\u201d he told Sport Nation.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got defenders squeezing you for time and space, which is the whole essence around blitz defence \u2013 it\u2019s to get defenders in your face, show you space but say that space has to be found with perfect execution.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t, there are intercepts, players get knocked over and spilt ball will happen. What you\u2019ve got to do is have players with the confidence to go into that space.<\/p>\n \u201cEqually, you\u2019ve got to find a way to batter your way at times through blitz defence to open them up and get them on the back foot.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t have like for like players and I certainly feel the combinations that work better are the ones where you\u2019ve got somebody that\u2019s good at contact, that can punch through but equally somebody that\u2019s got the courage to throw a pass should that space be there.\u201d<\/p>\n