All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster has hailed the impact of Beauden Barrett's shift to fullback, adapting well to his new role in the dual-playmaker system.
Again implementing the dual-playmaker style of play introduced on last year's end-of-year tour, Barrett and Richie Mo'unga have been able to share creative responsibility for the All Blacks so far this year, attempting to break down stubborn opposition defences with a two-pronged attack.
However, results with Barrett and Mo'unga starting together have not gone well for the All Blacks so far in 2019, with a 16-all draw to South Africa followed by a 47-26 loss to the Wallabies.
Foster, though, hailed the success of Barrett's ability to adapt to a role outside of his preferred position.
"From a Beaudy perspective, we talk about the two of them, it's a pretty big success story that Beaudy can be one of the leading tens in the world and then go back and suddenly, in the last two Tests, he's been our best player on the park at 15," Foster said.
"He's made that transition really, really well. It's given us some good options."
Foster also said that the system has benefited the All Blacks' style of play, Barrett and Mo'unga slowly but surely learning their way as a combination.
"If you look at a couple of variables, we've seen Richie grow from his first start.
"I thought against South Africa, he took a while to get into it, and we saw signs near the end. Again [against the Wallabies] we saw signs.
"Looking at how many times they're touching the ball, it's positive. We're not dampening one player to increase the playmaking ability of the other.
"We're getting good balance there."
Barrett could be in line for another stint at fullback, with the All Blacks' team to face the Wallabies at Eden Park named on Thursday morning.
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