Crusaders captain Scott Barrett has revealed he's received specialist help to recover from the hit to his confidence, after a four-week ban for a red card in Super Rugby Pacific.
Barrett, 28, has spent the Crusaders' last four matches on the sidelines, after he was handed a four-week suspension, following a red card in his side's defeat against the Blues last month.
The Crusaders and All Blacks lock hit Blues prop Alex Hodgman in the head, late, and with no arms to be shown a straight red card on the night.
The incident was a worrying one for Barrett, who was also shown a red card for a similar tackle back in 2019, sent off as the All Blacks fell to a 47-26 loss to the Wallabies in Perth.
In that instance, Barrett was handed a three-week ban - reduced from six weeks due to a previously clean record.
But now back for his side's clash against Fijian Drua on Friday, Barrett opened up on the difficulties at having to watch his side's tour of Australia, returning with three wins and one defeat during his absence.
"To be honest, it was a long three weeks," Barrett said.
"I had to, I guess, sort a few of my own things out with tackle technique, [and] building confidence back up.
"Something like that, you can internalise it [and] over-analyse things - which naturally I can do.
"Watching the boys from afar on tour, we love touring so it was tough. Particularly losing against the 'Tahs, but then the team actually grew some confidence for the Force and Brumbies performances.
"I think we've turned a corner from there, and we're excited for this week."
Barrett wasn't without counsel during his time off though, with the All Blacks' famed mental skills coaches also lending their support to help him recover the confidence lost from the red card against the Blues.
And now confident again, Barrett will look to bounce back in the best way possible on Friday - albeit playing slightly out of position at No.6 as the Crusaders rotate to face the Drua.
"Gilbert Enoka and Ceri Evans reached out," Barrett added. "I leant on them naturally.
"They broke down, I guess, the issue in itself. Helped step out any processes that could help me from not falling into the foul play trap or whatever it might be in the future.
"A lot of it was around technical [skills] as well. I've been doing some coaching with Tamati [Ellison] here.
"Those things have helped me build my confidence back up to where it needs to be."
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