A non-playing sabbatical isn’t the only thing keeping All Blacks captain Scott Barrett on the sidelines in 2026, with Crusaders head coach Rob Penney revealing concerns over the lock’s physical readiness to return to rugby.
Barrett opted for a break from rugby activities, rather than a stint in Japan or Ireland as his brothers had done, when the sabbatical period in his New Zealand Rugby contract came around this year.
The 32-year-old took the opportunity to go under the knife and address some lingering lower leg issues, with his recovery appearing on track when returning to training ahead of Super Round late last month.
However, Crusaders head coach Rob Penney revealed on Wednesday that Barrett’s return hasn’t gone as smoothly as he and the club would have hoped. Penney noted that Barrett had “got through” his surgery rehab, but it was “other parts” that were the cause of concern.
A firm date was never given for Barrett’s return, but now it appears he is not on track to return after the Crusaders’ bye next week, following which just two rounds of action remain before the playoffs start.
“Probably not,” Penney responded when asked about a return following the bye.
“Again, we’re taking that one week at a time, but he’s just struggling to get to where he wants to be as he gets his body right.
“I talked about it about a month ago… as his intensity ramps up, was his body going to be able to cope with that, and it just has got a couple of squeaky moments that he needs to work his way through, so we’ll see when he’s back.”
The Crusaders will likely need to claim some more wins over their final three games of the season, but with the second-place Blues, third-place Chiefs, and first-place Hurricanes all coming to Te Kaha over the coming month, the need for the Crusaders’ top talent is pressing.
Will Jordan has been out since a round 8 win over the Fijian Drua but is expected back after the bye, as is Taha Kemara, and potentially Chay Fihaki and Cullen Grace.
Beyond the Super Rugby season, what form Barrett’s contributions to the All Blacks could take under Dave Rennie has been a talking point, with the captaincy unconfirmed and selection among a handful of talented young locks highly contested.
“I’ve seen enough of Scott Barrett to know he will be picked. I’ve seen some pretty good form over 12 years, he will be there,” ex-All Black James Parsons said on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“It’s very rare you’ve seen him have a dip in form. I know everyone got into him, it’s no different to when Sam Cane became captain. Everyone piles in.
“But when you look at the output, and you do an analysis of what he still did, captaincy or not. Results dictate people’s opinion quite a lot in this country, and rightly so, they’re not experts, that’s fine… but in my opinion, you pick him every week.”
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