Wasps' explosive young ball-carrier turning into ultimate 'hybrid player' - and Eddie Jones is watching.
This season, Barbeary comfortably leads all Premiership back rows across a number of statistical categories - his potential is frightening.
Eddie Jones, the England head coach, has repeatedly spoken this year of the merits of “hybrid players”, the new generation capable of transcending the tags of forwards or backs. Wasps certainly seem to have one of those in Alfie Barbeary. Partly because not even Wasps seem entirely sure what the best position is to play their explosive young ball-carrier.
“He says he wants to play centre and I’m not sure whether he’s joking or not,” head coach Lee Blackett said after Barbeary’s latest outrageous performance last weekend against Montpellier, when he scored twice and provided an excellent assist. The 20-year-old is still listed as a hooker on the Wasps squad page, but has not played a game there since August. He has been in the back row in his past nine matches.
When he was (almost inevitably) called up by England during the Autumn Nations Cup, Jones offered his take on Barbeary’s true position.
“For us, he’s a hooker. He’s got a long way to go before he plays Test rugby, but he’s certainly a player of potential,” Jones said. “He’s got to work hard. He’s a young lad coming in, so he’s shining boots, picking up forks and spoons, doing all the apprentice work.”
But, is he really a hooker? This season, Barbeary has made four starts in five games and comfortably leads all Premiership back rows across a number of statistical categories: average gain per carry, plus defenders beaten and carries over the gain line both per 80 minutes. When it comes to metres per 80 minutes he is light years ahead of the pack, making 93.5 per game. Leicester’s Jasper Wiese is a distant second on 58.9 metres. Oh, and Barbeary has also scored three tries.
Lawrence Dallaglio, who knows a fair bit about both playing for Wasps and at No?8, has seen enough to know that Barbeary has what it takes to make it. According to Dallaglio, Wasps have every reason to be excited about the new generation coming through featuring Barbeary, scrum-half Will Porter and fly-half Charlie Atkinson.
“[Barbeary] could play anywhere. To play hooker, there is a huge amount required with the set-piece. Everything else, he is there already. It’s frightening,” Dallaglio tells Telegraph Sport. “Not many modern day hookers, maybe Malcolm Marx, can run and offload like that. He might even be on a different level [to Marx]. If he is able to add the set-piece, which takes time and dedication and practice?… even if he was doing it to a pretty good level, with the way the game is heading, he has the world at his feet. I am really excited.
“In this new age of hybrid player he definitely fits that bill. What I was particularly impressed with is that playing No.8 is not an easy job, particularly in a Champions Cup match against a quality opponent like Montpellier. To be able to show that composure in a decision-making position, alongside his two mates [Porter and Atkinson], that’s a real positive.”
Barbeary’s explosiveness with ball in hand has also understandably caught Dallaglio’s eye. “It’s innate, in his DNA,” Dallaglio explains. “He has that body shape which is quite hard to tackle. The way the game is heading, trying to get those dynamic ball-carriers close to the line, he has that ability to punch holes and draw defenders, which is a good weapon to have. He also plays with his head up. He doesn’t just tuck the ball under one arm, bury his head and look for contact. His first thoughts are about the open spaces and keeping the ball alive. As you become more and more marked, the challenge for you as a player is to continue to do that.”
The way Blackett tells it, Wasps have known for some time they had a special talent on their hands. The young man who barrelled tacklers out of his way at junior level started doing the same thing in training and age-grade matches. When to unleash him was almost as much of a conundrum as where to play him.
“Everyone has known for years about Alfie. There’s been a lot of conversations. The question was, how quickly could he get up to speed,” Blackett recently told The Coventry Telegraph. “Alfie was always able to be the boss in junior rugby, but he is now proving he is a good talent. There has been a huge change in his training mentality. I think he is training a damn sight harder than I have seen him before. He is highly motivated. I think knowing that people are asking questions in international set-ups about him, drives him. He’s massively passionate to play for his country and this club.
“To see him doing it at his age already, it’s credit to him. I’ll keep reiterating it, there’s plenty upon which Alfie needs to work on to improve to become more complete.”
You certainly hope that Barbeary does not lose the current level of enjoyment he seems to have for the game, which Dallaglio noted after Barbeary’s player-of-the-match interview against Montpellier.
“It’s so refreshing to see someone who does not look as though he has been media trained to the eyeballs,” Dallaglio adds. “He just says ‘It’s great to be out there with my mates and I’m happy to play whatever position I get picked in’. I thought that was a lovely way to express yourself.”
Topic: "The rise of Alfie Barbeary" in The Telegraph. (Read 1015 times)
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