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Time nearing for All Blacks star to make decision on Super Rugby future
When Jordie Barrett signed his latest contract with New Zealand Rugby almost a year ago to the day, a clause was included that allowed the 17-cap All Black to switch Super Rugby clubs after one year with the Hurricanes. That year is slowly coming to a close and Barrett will soon need to decide where his future lies.
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While the Hurricanes have nurtured the 23-year-old since he first signed with the franchise in 2017, it was with Canterbury where the talented utility back announced himself to the New Zealand public through some impressive displays during the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup campaign.
Barrett was studying at Lincoln University, following in the footsteps of older brother Scott, and Canterbury coach Scott Robertson wisely included the youngest Barrett brother in his provincial side for the 2016 season. Barrett went on to play a starring role in Canterbury title-winning run and was named Mitre 10 Cup player of the year.
While the Crusaders were naturally intent on keeping Barrett in the region, he made the decision to head north to the Hurricanes – the side he supported throughout his childhood – and link up with brother Beauden.
Beauden is now playing for the Blues (and will spend 2021) in Japan while Scott was named Crusaders captain ahead of the 2020 season and will remain with the Super Rugby champions until at least 2023.
Jordie now has a massive decision to make – will he stay with the Hurricanes for the foreseeable future, or is change on the horizon?
Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee is confident that they can retain the youngest Barrett’s services for 2021 and beyond, despite the contract clause.
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“We’ve said the whole way through that Jordie is really happy here, and he’s playing the best rugby of his life,” Lee told Stuff. He’s in regular dialogue with Alfie [coach Jason Holland]. We know these guys have choices but we’re confident that Jordie will be with us going forward.
“We realise there is interest from other clubs. I think all four clubs would be happy to have Jordie Barrett on their roster if they could. Definitely one club has made their interest known but we’re confident that Jordie is a Hurricane and loves the team, and we’re not too concerned [that Barrett will depart].”
Lee is right to suggest that any of the Super Rugby clubs would gain hugely from the addition of Barrett.
Matt Duffie, who will line up for the Blues at fullback for the second week in a row on Sunday afternoon, is heading to Honda Heat in Japan next season while the Auckland side also had Joe Marchant on their books for a period this year. They’ll be without Beauden for 2021 and first five option Harry Plummer is also off-contract at the end of the season. That creates plenty of space for Jordie to follow his brother to the Blues, should he choose to do so.
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Further south, Brad Weber, Anton Lienert-Brown and Damian McKenzie are probably the only guaranteed selections in the Chiefs backline and Aaron Cruden is once again departing NZ shores. A Barrett-McKenzie combination in the backline could cause havoc for defending sides – though it’s difficult to say which positional combination would suit the two youngsters best.
The Highlanders, meanwhile, are still in recovery mode after losing a host of experienced players following the 2019 Rugby World Cup. They’ve regularly chopped and changed their midfield and back three throughout the year whereas Barrett could add some stability at the back of the field.
The Crusaders are the most well-stocked in the backs of all the New Zealand teams with All Black options available to play in every position jersey from 9 to 15 – but they’d still savour the opportunity to add Barrett to their collection of talented players.
Without a doubt, all five New Zealand sides will be interested at the prospect of having Barrett on their roster next year and where the utility option ends up is anyone’s guess.
Depending on how successful the Hurricanes final three matches of Super Rugby Aotearoa are could have an impact on Barrett’s decision but the safe money would remain on him staying in the capital.
Then again, the safe money was also on Beauden re-signing with the Hurricanes – and we know how that turned out.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
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