Jordie Barrett leaves door open for Leinster return to chase Champions Cup glory

All Black midfielder Jordie Barrett has left the door open for a potential return to Leinster to chase a European title after watching his former club fall to Bordeaux in this year’s final.

Barrett spent the 2025 season with Leinster on his sabbatical, helping the club become URC champions for the first time since the expansion, but fell short of the European title when they lost in the semi-final to Northampton Saints.

The 29-year-old came off the bench that afternoon with the Irish pair Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose starting in the midfield.

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Barrett hinted that he “might have to try to go back and win one” after watching his former teammates and All Black midfield partner Rieko Ioane suffer a heavy defeat by 41-19 over the weekend.

“Teams will have a championship window, and then that’ll close over a couple of years,” he said speaking to the KOKO podcast.

“Leinster still always seem to be doing the right thing by getting there and probably just need a little bit of luck to get one or two.

“I imagine that all they need is to get one, and the second will come. I couldn’t do it last year, so I might have to try to go back and win one.”

Expanding on his off-hand comments, Barrett confirmed that the door is open to return in future after a positive experience the first-time around.

“Yeah, potentially,” he said of a Leinster comeback.

“I loved my time in Dublin, great boys, and that’s certainly something I’ll look at trying to do potentially in the future,” he said.

“European rugby is amazing, and the other thing with Leinster, last year we were juggling trying to win a URC, which we were able to do for the first time in seven or eight years, which was awesome, as well as managing a squad to win the European Championship.

“The other thing the Leinster boys have to juggle is the 22 or 23 international players. So, trying to manage those boys week to week in the URC, but then trying to target the European final as well. There’s a lot of moving parts, but I certainly enjoyed it.

“The fun weeks were actually playing with a few of the academy boys and some club players and just trying to graft out a win on a cold night against Connacht, but then also enjoyable in those big European games as well.”

Barrett’s current four-year deal with NZR, which included his sabbatical last year, runs until the end of 2028.

The earliest he could return to Europe would be 2029 when he would be 32 years old.