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Hurricanes coach desperate to retain Beauden Barrett - 'We love him'

June 13, 2019

Rumours are swirling the off-contract star will move north to the Blues.

Hurricanes coach John Plumtree is desperate for the Wellington side to retain All Blacks superstar Beauden Barrett.

With Barrett yet to put pen to paper to a new deal, there has been speculation he may move north to the struggling Blues franchise.

Having lifted the Super Rugby title in 2016 and capped 123 times by the Hurricanes, his loss would be massive for the capital, and Plumtree said they were keen to retain the 28-year-old first-five.

There are rumours swirling the Hurricanes first-five may be moving north.

"Beaudy is massive for us. He's a big part of this club and has been a big part of the club for a long time," he said.

"He's out of contract, we've got other players out of contract as well and they attract attention.

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"We go through to process along with New Zealand (Rugby). Beaudy knows just how much we love him. He's a Hurricane, he's been a Hurricane for a long time. He's still got lots of rugby left in him and we want him to carry on in our jersey."

Plumtree expected there was plenty of competition from overseas for the two-times World Player of the Year as well.

Blues coach Leon MacDonald was also asked about the situation, but he would not comment either, saying there was always speculation when a player was off contract. 

Adding spice to the situation, the Hurricanes host the Blues in their final regular season match in Wellington on Saturday. 

The Hurricanes are guaranteed a home quarter-final, while the Blues, once again, have missed the knock-out stage. 

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