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When Dumb and Dumber met the All Blacks: Barrett nickname exposed

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Jones: Beware the wound-up All Blacks (1:55)

Adam Jones recalls facing a wound-up New Zealand side with Wales in 2006, and losing by 35 points. (1:55)

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Beauden Barrett says it's still weird. Sitting next to his little brother, Jordie, having been named in the same All Blacks starting side for a series-deciding British & Irish Lions Test, remains a surreal reality.

A few hours earlier on Thursday, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen also faced an unusual situation: a new Barrett family nickname.

"I heard one this morning and I said to Beauden ''what did you call your brother that for? And he said 'that's the guy out of Dumb and Dumber'."

A few minutes later when Hansen had left the room and the two Barrett boys were seated in front of a packed media session, Beauden helped clarify the cult movie reference.

"It's an old nickname but it came out this morning and he [Hansen] said 'what's that?' I said 'Lloyd'... it's not Jordie's [nickname], it's obviously Scott's."

Yes, the Barrett boys, and probably the girls for that matter, too, have been known to refer to Scott as "Lloyd" from Dumb and Dumber.

So what about Jordie then? Has he been bullish enough to drop one of Beauden's nicknames on the wider All Blacks squad?

"I've never called him anything differently...there were some repercussions if I called him something else, so I just kept it Beauden or Beaudy." "He's a very respectful younger brother," Beauden added with a grin.

As it stands, it appears Beauden is the only brother still to have his dirty laundry aired across New Zealand after he revealed Jordie's nickname "Udon" - as in the skinny noodle - to the nation last month.

Some may see that as the older brother's domain yet Hansen says it goes well beyond Beauden and the Barrett clan, with each and every All Black allowed to enjoy a bit of banter.

"They [the Barrett boys] have the ability to take the mickey out of each other but the whole team is like a brotherhood, this is a close unit this group," Hansen said. "So no-one's free from a bit of banter, including myself, but they've got to be good at it because I'm not bad at coming back. And then we enjoy it; we enjoy having a laugh when it's the right time to laugh and we enjoy working hard together. And that's one of the formulas of what makes this a good team to be in, to be part of."

While there are obviously plenty of jokes between the three Barrett boys, their rise to the top of New Zealand rugby is no laughing matter. Jordie's promotion to the starting side after just 17 minutes off the bench against Samoa three weeks ago has raised some eyebrows, but older brother Beauden won't be going out of his way to offer any special words of encouragement.

"I don't know if I've given him any advice," Beauden said. "He trained very well on Tuesday and I think with the outside backs in their own little group, they've been communicating really well and working well as a combination and the coaches have been great this week.

"So you don't want to put too much in the young fella's head, you just want him to go out there and play footy because he's good enough to do that - that's why he's playing this week."

As to who'll get first crack at the goal-kicking, one of the key reasons behind Jordie's promotion, Hansen had a different take on the 'competition' Beauden suggested for Thursday afternoon's training.

"It's a good question but we haven't asked either one of them who wants to do it," Hansen said. "I think they both probably want to do it and usually when there's two brothers the older brother gets to go first. So that will probably be the case."

Saturday night's decider was already wonderfully setup, but there is little doubt Jordie's inclusion alongside both Beauden and Scott has added a little bit of extra interest to a clash that will also be Kieran Read's 100th Test and the 50th caps - and likely final Test outings - for Aaron Cruden and Charlie Faumuina should they be introduced from the bench.

But showing the relaxed attitude of a seasoned professional, Jordie had little trouble simplifying the situation.

"We've all got a responsibility in the team...whether we've been here for one Test or 100 we've got to do our job and no-one can go quiet," he said. "So we've all got a job to do, plenty of talk and, yeah, just do our role to the best of our ability."

One should probably spare a thought for mum, Robyn, though.

"How's she feeling? She'll be pretty nervous...they'll be up again this weekend, nervously excited, as usual."