Jordie Barrett's cheeky dig at his Japan-bound older brother
Newly recovered Jordie Barrett has had a cheeky dig at big brother Beauden after the Blues superstar signed a lucrative one-year deal with Japanese club Suntory Sungoliath next year.
Beauden confirmed the news on Friday morning which will see him miss next year’s Super Rugby season to play for the Tokyo based club before returning to New Zealand for the 2021 international season to see out the rest of his contract with NZ Rugby until 2023.
When asked about his brother’s Japanese deal, Jordie said it wasn’t a surprise but joked about how the news left him in an awkward position.
“Wasn’t too much of a surprise to me,” he said. “We chat quite a bit. I just say good on him.
“Well played on his behalf. He’s enjoying playing golf in Queenstown while I have to front and do his media.
“He’s his own man. I guess we talk a little bit and it’s often un-footy related and he makes his own decisions.”
Jordie said he has no issues with player sabbaticals like the deals taken by Beauden and All Black teammate Brodie Retallick.
“I think it’s positive. They’re guys that spent eight or nine years plus playing in New Zealand rugby and plying their craft here and have done so much for New Zealand rugby in general.
“So I don’t see any harm in them popping over for a few months and coming back. If they’re good enough to be picked, they’ll be picked. That’s just the way it is. So I say fair play.”
Beauden, whose reported $1.5m deal will make him one of the highest-paid players in the world, is currently having a short break with the Blues on a bye this weekend.
Jordie, on the other hand, is back in action for the Hurricanes against the Chiefs on Sunday, his first game of the revamped Super Rugby Aotearoa season after recovering from a shoulder injury.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’s a different feeling preparing for a game at the end of the week. I’ve got a lot of excitement and the weather is good going back up to Hamilton so can’t complain.
“The most frustrating thing was I trained all COVID and then come back and hurt my shoulder tackling a tackle bag. That was very frustrating. But we haven’t been too far away. I feel like our group is in a pretty good spot at the moment and we’re not far off.”
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Jordie may also have a decision to make about his own future after signing a deal last year with NZ Rugby until 2022 with a clause that allows him to switch Super Rugby teams, which prompted some reports of a potential move to the Blues.
However, he says he’s currently focused on the Hurricanes and getting back to his best after recovering from his injury.
“That’s open. That’s always been open. That’s what was in my contract. But I’m not in any discussions at the moment.
“I’ve just been trying to rehab my shoulder and get back and play some footy. I’m super excited about that so just can’t wait to get up and play in Hamilton.”
Meanwhile, the Chiefs will be without All Black Anton Lienert-Brown who is ruled out of this weekend’s crucial clash with a mystery concussion probably picked up during their loss to the Crusaders.
“We’ve gone back and looked at it, and he just said he can’t remember in the game where he’s got a knock,” coach Warren Gatland said.
The Hurricanes and the Chiefs will both look to get their first win of the season at 3.35pm on Sunday in Hamilton.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments