Oh brother! A fourth Barrett could have made All Blacks

A trio of Barrett brothers will play for New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup, but according to Beauden Barrett, a fourth sibling had also been on course to wear the famous All Blacks jersey until injury prematurely ended his career.

The Barretts are the only trio of brothers to have started a Test rugby match together for New Zealand.

Playmaker Beauden, 32, is the full-back or outside-half with a razor-sharp eye for a gap, who has twice been named World Player of the Year.

Jordie, 26, has nailed down a starting berth at centre after switching from full-back.

Lock Scott, 29, was having an outstanding season until he was sent off for two yellow cards in the record 35-7 defeat to South Africa in a warm-up game.

They are three of eight siblings - five boys, three girls - who grew up on the family's dairy farm near Rahotu in the North Island's Taranaki province.

Beauden Barrett says their eldest sibling Kane was paving a path to the All Blacks until he suffered a career-ending concussion in 2014.

As a teenager, Kane, now 33, achieved the rare feat of making the New Zealand Secondary Schools team a year early and was then made captain the following season.

As a loose forward or lock, he went on to play Super Rugby for the Blues until his career was halted by a concussion during a training session. Kane now runs a successful agriculture business.

"I was lucky to play all my rugby growing up with Kane," Beauden Barrett told AFP. "He had to give it up due to concussion. Goodness knows where he could have ended up."

Beauden is adamant his elder brother could have made the All Blacks. "No question, because I know how skilful and talented he was."

A fifth brother, Blake, also made more than 100 appearances for their local rugby club Coastal.

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