Rugby: Due baby? Beauden Barrett missing from All Blacks training

‘Baby B’ may have finally arrived.

All Blacks star Beauden Barrett did not attend training today at Whakatane, suggesting that his wife Hannah may have gone into labor.

Hannah is almost 40 weeks pregnant with her baby.

While speaking to the media today, All Blacks padlock Sam Whitelock may have even slipped the news.

“Beauden is not here … all the best to Beauds and Hannah right now,” he said.

Last week, Barrett said he was taking a wait-and-see approach to his availability at the upcoming Rugby Championship following a suggestion from a news outlet that some All Blacks were considering withdrawing from the competition for family reasons.

Barrett was interviewed at Gold AM’s Country Sport Breakfast and said he thought “journalists are getting a little excited, they have too much time to think about what ifs and all that sort of thing.”

But he wasn’t definitive about his availability, either, saying only that Taranaki’s Ranfurly Shield challenge against Canterbury on Saturday “could be my last game in a couple of weeks.”

“We don’t have much in front of us, in facts and details. It is difficult to make a decision,” he said.

“As professional rugby players, we have to show up and take action – you can’t wear the black jersey every day. It’s not something you take lightly, that decision.

“This changes every day, it is not even confirmed that South Africa and Argentina will pass. There is a lot of water to pass under the bridge.”