Beauden Barrett has revealed the All Blacks were willing to let him and his brothers return to New Zealand to attend their paternal grandfather's funeral.
Earlier this month, the Barrett family lost their adoring 'Grandad Ted", who passed away at Taranaki Base Hospital, aged 78.
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Beauden, Scott and Jordie weighed the offer and decided to stay in Japan and help the All Blacks for their quarter-final clash against Ireland. If they'd returned home, they would have likely missed out on the knockout game.
And the decision to stay in Japan paid off as Beauden starred in a man-of-the-match performance to help the All Blacks advance to the semi-finals with a 46-14 win.
"It was a tough time," he said. "Gilbert Enoka [All Blacks' mental skills coach] was great in that space, and the team were awesome around supporting us and always giving us the option to head home if that's what we needed to do."
After the match against Ireland, Beauden nearly broke down in tears as he dedicated his performance to his grandfather.
"It's been an emotional week for my family," Barrett said.
"All we wanted to do was play well for him tonight, so thinking of you up there. Love you, Grandad Ted."
What made the win more special was the fact dad Kevin 'Smiley' Barrett watched the performance from the grandstand.
"Last week was a tough week for him and for ourselves, so it was awesome to share that moment with him and for him to be over supporting us. He's called 'Smiley' for a reason. That grin of his comes out quite often, and it's always good to see. He's just a proud dad.
"It's awesome to have dad over here and plenty of support from back home also."
Beauden also said he is sharing a room with brother Scott as the team prepares to face England on Saturday.
Coach Steve Hansen named Scott to start against England at blindside flanker for the first time in his test career.
"He's a bit bigger since the top bunk he slept in. He probably wouldn't fit it any more," Beauden joked. "I was on the bottom bunk, back in 2002.
"It's great to room with him. He's clearly got his rugby cap on because the other night he was sleep-talking and was calling out the lineout moves. That was going through his head, that's for sure.
"We don't talk too much footy. We keep it pretty casual in the room. He's my brother, and when it's time to talk rugby that's usually around the training field or in meetings. We don't like to talk about it all the time."
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The ninth Rugby World Cup kicks off on September 20 in Japan - the first time it has been hosted in Asia.
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