Scott Barrett says he has been drilling his tackling technique in a bid to avoid a repeat of his red card in the calamitous Bledisloe Cup defeat to the Wallabies in Perth last month.
The lock said he had been working hard after becoming just the fourth All Black to be sent from the field for his high shot on Michael Hooper in last month’s 47-26 loss in Western Australia.
“There’s obviously a fine line and I’ve learnt from that and keen to move on, the laws are there for a reason, to protect players and player welfare,” Barrett told media in Japan.
“I’ve been working hard and keen to address those wrongdoings.”
He had been putting a particular focus on getting lower when tackling.
“When you’re under pressure, fatigued at the end of a long half, you’re going to go back to your habits, possibly I have a bit of a bad habit in the past but like I said, I’ve addressed that,” he said.
“Getting the height in the tackle, that’s a big part of it, that’s what I have been working on.”
Barrett said the team were well aware of the hard-line referees and officials were going to take on high tackles and general foul play.
“We’ve had the briefing so we’re all well aware of they’re going to be ruling high shots or foul play.”
Along with Barrett, Cyril Brownlie, Colin Meads and Sonny Bill Williams are the only All Blacks to be sent off in the 114-year history of the team.
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