Jordie Barrett fitting in just fine at star-studded Leinster
The obvious conclusion when Hugo Keenan, James Lowe and Jamie Osborne were ruled out of Leinster’s Champions Cup opener away to Bristol Bears last Sunday was that it did at least make things easier for Leo Cullen when finding a home for Jordie Barrett.
Where to accommodate the All Black in a side and a squad already replete with Irish Test talent had been the question on everybody’s lips ever since news of his decision to join Leinster on a short-term contract was first aired earlier this year.
Barrett’s versatility offered solutions.
This was a guy who had played at inside-centre, full-back and on the wing for club and country. He even played at out-half for New Zealand once upon a time – but only once. A place in a denuded Leinster back three was open.
Events in Ashton Gate at the weekend shone a different light on things.
With Ciaran Frawley coming off at half-time with a back injury, the option was there to slot Barrett in for his debut at full-back. They didn’t go that way.
Instead, Cullen put him on at inside-centre and moved a myriad of other pieces around the chess board to suit.
Robbie Henshaw went from 12 to 13, Garry Ringrose switched from outside-centre to the wing, Jordan Larmour switched wings and Jimmy O’Brien vacated his wing to go in at full-back. Interesting. Very interesting.
And it worked.
Barrett was brilliant from his first minute, slipping seamlessly into the Leinster machine as they put a poor first-half behind them to roll over their hosts for a bonus-point win. And it was interesting on Tuesday to hear the Kiwi hold court on how he views himself as a player.
“I'd like to think a number 12 that can probably play 15, and that's the way I see myself,” he explained after training at UCD. “I mean, at a stretch, I can play at wing still, but I think most of my value is at 12. But I still enjoy 15.
“Even since transitioning into the midfield with the All Blacks and the Hurricanes throughout the week, I've always trained at full-back. So I've continued to try and grow my game in that space, high-ball kicking and, who knows, I might play at 15 at some stage too.”
How this plays out going forward will be fascinating.
Henshaw, after all, is a world-class operator at 12 in his own right. The Ireland star started there twice for the British and Irish Lions on their 2021 tour to South Africa before sliding over to 13 to accommodate Bundee Aki for the deciding Test.
One of life’s ‘good’ problems, right?
Barrett had only been in the country about 10 days by the time he took to the field for Leinster’s Champions Cup opener in England’s West Country, and there were challenges in learning a new rugby language after his long berths with the Hurricanes and the All Blacks.
It’s natural, then, to wonder how good he can be once truly embedded into the club and a country that is still relatively new to him despite previous visits with his national team and as a nipper when his parents moved the family over for a short stint in Oldcastle.
He brings a talent and intelligence that, it will be hoped, can add the extra 1% that has separated Leinster from silverware this last three seasons, and a work ethic embedded by his mum who made him and his siblings run the 3.5kms home from school every day.
If his first impression of Leinster has been good then that has been reciprocated.
“I guess just the simplicity of their weeks and basics and players and coaches, just play rugby for rugby 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.
“It helps when they're familiar with each other, a deep squad played together internationally, a broad variety of coaches, which helps. It’s good to get ‘intel’ from all over the world, so the simplicity at the moment has been quite different.
“But that’s probably a reason why they’ve been so successful for a long time.”
It’s mad to think that he’s still only 27 at this point in time. This is a guy who is just about entering his prime years as a rugby player and, while the old familial ties in Co. Meath carried some weight in this move, he is here on business.
“I've been asked [why I chose Leinster] 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,” he explained ahead of the province’s Champions Cup tie at home to Clermont Auvergne on Saturday.
“It's great coaching and great players and a club with a strong history. So that was attractive to me. And playing in good competitions like the URC and European Championship, big games and big stadiums. So that would be it in a nutshell.”
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