'I knew I wasn't really in the top 50 rugby players': The circumstances that drove Jordie Barrett off the All Blacks path - then back onto it
Jordie Barrett is a prodigiously talented footballer. At just 20 years of age, he was thrust into the All Blacks line-up for his starting international debut against the British & Irish Lions and has continued to develop his game since.
Three years older and wiser now, Barrett has revealed that if circumstances had been a bit different, he would never have pulled on the black jersey for the historic series. He may, in fact, have given up on playing professional rugby altogether.
It’s well documented that Barrett’s from a family of exceptional sportsmen with older brothers Kane, Beauden and Scott all professional rugby players.
Their talents have largely been confined to the rugby field but Jordie and Beauden have also dabbled in cricket, with the two brothers some of Team Rugby’s best performers in the annual Black Clash.
Admittedly the likes of Stephen Fleming, Dan Vettori and Grant Elliot may not pull out all the stops in their annual battle with their rugby-playing rivals, but your average cricket player is still going to struggle coming up against some former (and current) greats of the code.
Jordie’s 2 wickets from 22 balls in the 2020 game matched Grant Elliot’s take, illustrating just how dab a hand the youngest Barrett brother is at the summer sport. That’s impressive return wasn’t just the result of a few games of cricket on the beach as a child, however. The game was never just a hobby for Jordie, it was something that he excelled in from a young age and seriously considered as a career option.
In fact, had things gone a bit differently, cricket may well have trumped rugby as Barrett’s professional sport of choice.
After high school, Barrett headed down to Lincoln University on a rugby scholarship but the oval football code wasn’t his main focus.
“That first year out of school, cricket was more my priority,” Barrett told RugbyPass.
“I was spending more time in the indoor nets down there at Lincoln University than I was in the gym.
“I was playing Central Districts Under 19s then, and I was giving the NZ Under 19s a red-hot crack because there was the World Cup at the end of the year.”
New Zealand cricket fans will be in tears and rugby fans will thanking their lucky stars at how things unfolded.
“Unfortunately, I missed out on their World Cup squad that went to Bangladesh,” Barrett said.
“I was a bit disappointed with that but, at the time, I probably wasn’t good enough anyway.
“But I played cricket all summer again and then went back down to Lincoln the next year.”
'The reason I’m happy to talk about this is because nothing will change if it’s not out there.'
Having battled back from cancer @nasi_manu is now out of contract in a locked-down Italy. But @JLyall93 finds out he has other things are on his mind ??https://t.co/BwJdHY1OmO
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 2, 2020
Barrett’s commitment to the summertime sport was probably in part due to the promise he’d shown at high school. While he’d been a handy rugby player, his skills didn’t compare to what he could do on the cricket pitch.
In fact, despite making his All Blacks debut at just 20, the Francis Douglas Memorial College alumnus was overlooked completely for the New Zealand Secondary Schools side in 2014.
“To tell you the truth, I was a skinny white battler [at high school],” Barrett admitted.
“I could kick a ball but I still hadn’t had my growth spurt by then. I was only six-foot and playing first five and I would’ve been nowhere near in the frame of New Zealand schools so that wasn’t a tough pill to swallow.
“I knew I wasn’t really in the top 50 rugby players in New Zealand, at that stage, and that’s just when I was just enjoying my cricket.”
Being overlooked for the New Zealand Under 19 cricket side in 2014 changed things for the ‘white battler’, however, with rugby benefitting from the snubbing.
“At the start of 2016, I played prems for Lincoln University as well as Crusaders Knights at the start of the season,” Barrett said.
“And then, that was the same year as the Under 20s, and Razor was head coach and he picked me for that, and then picked me in this Canterbury Mitre 10 side so that’s basically where it all started.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
“It was like a fairy tale – but without the happy ending”
– @TomVinicombe takes notes as @LimaSopoaga, the former @allblacksrugby player, dives deep in the circumstances of his switch to @WaspsRugby in 2018https://t.co/lOXUDZWfN4— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 28, 2020
Barrett’s Under 20s didn’t have their most successful season ever, finishing in 5th place, but his first and only stint with Canterbury later that season ended in a Premiership title.
From there, the Hurricanes came calling, and a year later, Barrett was running out in the black jersey to take on the British and Irish Lions.
It was a whirlwind journey that may never have happened if Barrett had made that Under 19 World Cup or completely pushed rugby to the side and focussed on just the one sport – which many people had suggested to him.
“It was a funny one because I was getting told by a lot of people from the respective codes that you’ve gotta start choosing, gotta start specializing in one,” said Barrett.
“My parents, the whole time, they just keep saying, nah you don’t have to commit to anyone – just keep playing both sports for as long as possible and then whatever happens, happens.
“Basically, that’s all it was. It happened that I didn’t make the Under 19 World Cup squad and then I made Under 20s for rugby the next year and I didn’t really have a chance to go back to cricket the next summer so it just worked out that way.”
Cricket’s loss is rugby’s gain, of course, and the 23-year-old already has 17 international matches under his belt – including his starting debut against the Lions and five games at last year’s World Cup in Japan.
It’s easy to forget how young the talented footballer is, given how long he’s been floating around the professional scene, but there’s still plenty of time for the utility back to develop into a world-class player – a player that we may never have seen the best of if he’d been snapped up New Zealand Under 19 cricket team in 2016.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments