Jordie Barrett has barely put his foot in the door but whatever reservations, if any, there might have been about him joining Leinster have been dispelled already.
On top of his ultra-assured 40-minute, try-scoring debut in blowy Bristol on Sunday night, Barrett’s arrival comes at a time when the foot injury that Ciarán Frawley sustained on Sunday sees him join James Lowe (calf), Hugo Keenan (wrist) and Jamie Osborne on the sidelines.
So, typical of such an attritional sport, the great debate as to what is Leinster’s best team when everyone is fit thus remains unresolved for the time being at least. But Barrett’s arrival looks particularly well timed, not that he’s the utility back that he once used to be.
Why can't Irish rugby produce players with genuine pace?
“I was a bit of a jack of all trades and master of none for a number of years, but I feel like it’s probably stood me in great stead for where I am at the moment. I feel like I’ve been around forever, but I’m 27 and I feel like my best rugby is ahead of me, which is positive.”
Barrett said playing on both wings, several times at fullback and once at outhalf and most of all at 12 for the Hurricanes and All Blacks has given him good perspective on what players in other positions need from him.
“I’d like to think a number 12 that can probably play 15 is how I see myself now. At a stretch I can play on the wing still, but I think most of my value is at 12.
“Who knows I might play at 15 at some stage too, which I’m excited about,” he added, which may or may not be a pointer toward Saturday’s Champions Cup clash with Clermont Auvergne at the Aviva Stadium (5.30pm).
Tellingly, Barrett’s last 20 starts for the All Blacks – dating back to November 2022 – have all been at inside centre. Similarly, his last 28 starts for the Hurricanes have also been with the number 12 on his back, dating back to March 2022.
Thus, when he replaced Frawley in Ashton Gate, rather than make a straight swap, Leinster bought Barrett on at 12, with Robbie Henshaw (to 13), Garry Ringrose (to 14), Jordan Larmour (to 11) and Jimmy O’Brien (to fullback) all switching positions.
That 12-13-14 configuration at Ashton Gate could be a realistic option in the future on the premise of having all Leinster’s best players on the pitch together.
In any case, why Leinster?
“I’ve been asked this a little bit and there’s some long-winded answers. But to sum it up, obviously to grow my game in a different part of the world, with great coaching and great players and a club with a strong history. That was attractive to me and playing in good competitions like the URC and European Championship, big games and big stadiums. That would be it in a nutshell.”
Helped by knowing many of the Leinster players from the Test scene, Barrett has settled in seamlessly, describing them as “to their core, fundamentally good people, with good values, and and I enjoy what the club stands for. It’s been a nice introduction, these couple of weeks. I know it’s a small sample size, but I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
Being a Kiwi, he has been struck by the province’s uncomplicated approach.
“In some ways, I guess just the simplicity of their weeks and basics and players and coaches, just play rugby for rugby’s sake and it’s as simple as that. You can overcomplicate it sometimes and try to dig a whole lot deeper for a number of reasons, but everyone’s well aligned. But that’s probably a reason why they’ve been so successful for a long time.”
Of course, the Barretts attachment to Ireland began when the patriarch, Kevin “Smiley” Barrett, spent two years farming in Meath and playing with Buccaneers, albeit Leinster’s new signing was a toddler back then.
“There’s obviously a sentimental attachment to some of my decision-making, although I can’t remember a thing, I was around three and four years of age at the time. But there’s a family affinity to Ireland and to Co Meath and Oldcastle. Over the next wee while we’ll try to head up and spend some time with some family and friends.”
We may have become used to three Barrett boys playing for the All Blacks regularly, but it’s still a phenomenal achievement.
He attributes this to “very good parenting for a start, with the support of great grandparents, aunties, uncles and close family friends in such an amazing upbringing”.
“We are obviously from a rural community,” said Barrett, and spoke of his parents instilling their work ethic into all eight siblings on the family dairy farm near the coast of Taranaki.
“We were never really pushed or driven to play rugby or to become an All Black. We were bought up well, got a good opportunity at boarding school at Francis Douglas, we were made to work hard and learn some discipline.”
But while rarely chastised after a rugby match, their mum Robyn always stressed the need to be fit.
Sometimes, Barrett said, “she’d pick us up from school, grab our bags, give us a pair of running shoes and get us to run home. So that might have put us in decent stead.
“It was 3½km,” he recalled, smiling. “So, for a 10- or 11-year-old, it was a decent distance.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
