Why Jordie Barrett turned down the Crusaders: 'Sitting down in the room with him was like walking down to the principal's office'
When it came time for Jordie Barrett to make a decision about where he wanted to play Super Rugby, it’s fair to say that the talented Taranaki-man could have picked any side in New Zealand and been welcomed with open arms.
Off the back of some excellent performances for the New Zealand Under 20 side in 2016 and half a season of Mitre 10 Cup, Barrett was a hot product. Already, the world had seen what older brother Beauden was capable of and the rumours were that Jordie was an even more promising talent.
The Chiefs and Crusaders chased Barrett’s signature hard but it was the Hurricanes who won out in the end – despite Barrett enjoying a stellar season playing alongside brother Scott at Canterbury. Canterbury head honcho Scott Robertson had also been Barrett’s coach with the Under 20s but that wasn’t enough to keep the up-and-coming talent in Christchurch.
It did make the youngest Barrett brother’s decision incredibly difficult, however.
“I’d just finished the season playing with Scott in the Mitre 10 Cup with Canterbury and I’d enjoyed that massively so it was bloody hard telling him that I wanted to go play for the Canes,” Barrett told RugbyPass.
“But now that I think about it, Razor was actually the toughest conversation. Sitting down in the room with him was like walking down to the principal’s office and telling him I’d done something wrong but in the end, it was just a decision I made and the reason it was so hard is because we had such a good relationship.
“He taught me so much through the couple of years that I’d been down in Canterbury and the hard thing about going back to Wellington was I knew certain skills that Razor had, I was going to lose in that way. In saying that, I knew I was going up to some good coaches with Boydie [Former Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd] and John Plumtree and a lot of good players in Wellington.
“There were a couple of other reasons behind it. I was 19 at the stage and, to be honest, I was kind of still fanboying the Hurricanes. They’re the team I grew up supporting my whole life and if I’d known at 10 years old that I would have the opportunity to play for the Canes, I would have taken it just like that.
Playing for the Hurricanes would also give Barrett the opportunity to link up with Beauden while being based in Wellington would mean Barrett was closer to the family in Taranaki.
“It’s a little bit closer to home. I enjoy, when I’ve got a couple of days off, driving back up to the Naki to the farm and spending some time at home so that was another big reason for it.”
Of course, the Taranaki region has been aligned with the Chiefs since 2013, not the Hurricanes – but that change of allegiances hasn’t quite been adopted by the slightly older locals.
“It’s a bit bizarre,” Barrett admitted regarding Taranaki’s new ties. “When I was a wee ticker, everyone was running around in Hurricanes shorts and Hurricanes jerseys but now it’s a different generation. All the young kids are running around in Chiefs jerseys and you feel like you’re not at home anymore.
“There’s a good number still supporting the Canes – the loyal ones,” Barrett joked.
Only a select group of men get the chance to don the #AllBlacks' 11 &10 jerseys – fewer still get the chance to wear both.
Jordie Barrett revealed to @TomVinicombe the moment he realised how important the number on your back is when you're playing for NZ.https://t.co/u32WecYgJZ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 21, 2020
“I think at the start, when it was fresh, there was a wee bit of conflict, but I think it’s long enough down the track now that people just got used to it. Especially the way Super Rugby’s going, nowadays you’ve got people from all different provinces. It doesn’t seem to worry people too much anymore – normally only in the weeks where two franchises play each other.”
Barrett inked a new contract with New Zealand Rugby last year that will keep him in the country until the next World Cup in 2023 but had the option to part ways with the Hurricanes following this year’s Super Rugby season.
“Last year when, there was still a little bit of uncertainty when I signed, just with Scott being in Christchurch and Beaudie in Auckland,” Barrett said. “I just wanted to give myself flexibility to, I guess, do what I wanted if I had a change of heart and by having that clause in my contract, it allows me that.
“With this COVID thing going on, you just don’t know what’s going to happen next year, what the competition is going to look like, so it just gives you a bit of room to move.
“It doesn’t mean I’ll put any less into the Hurricanes, where I’m playing at the moment, it just gives me that flexibility at the back end.”
That out-clause hasn’t amounted to much, however, with one of Super Rugby Aotearoa’s players of the season choosing to re-commit to the Hurricanes just last week.
Brother Beauden, of course, won’t be playing for the Blues next season. Instead, the former World Rugby Player of the Year will be representing Suntory Sungoliath in Japan. Jordie never gave any serious thought to saying farewell to New Zealand’s shores at this early stage of his career, however.
“Obviously there’s a lot of money overseas and people have different priorities. I just thought, I was 22 years old last year, so it wasn’t a priority for me at this stage and I wanted to stay in New Zealand.”
The 23-year-old is growing with every game and has plenty to offer New Zealand rugby. The best is certainly still to come from the young utility back. The All Blacks will be better for it and, now that his medium-term future is committed to the Hurricanes, the people of Wellington will still be blessed with one Barret in their midst.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Nick, and totally correct. Definately too many teams which is unfortunately an effect of the 21st century hubris that began after our 2nd World Cup win. Honestly we weren't like that before then. If NZ beat us in a Rugby League or cricket series (which has occasionally happened) they don't all of a sudden think they are our equal or even better than us. Unfortunately for Australia, we got carried away with ourselves and wanted to jump from 4th biggest football code to biggest…in 5 minutes. More teams, more matches against the All Blacks (so we could beat them even more). Bring it on. It’s been all down hill since then. Assuming Melbourne are gone, there are very good reasons to keep the remaining 4 in SR, or so it would seem. The Force?…wronged previously, and have $s. Surely not. The Brumbies?….easily the best performed. Surely not. The Waratahs?….most players (50%) and most followers. Surely not. The Reds?….easily the best current team, and nearly as many players and followers as the Waratahs. Surely not. I’d argue that based on how strong the combined Reds n Rebs would be and how strong a combined team of all of the other Oz SR teams would be, we have players for 2 teams…..which would be good. Good enough for a propper SR competition…or maybe good enough for Japan….if they’ll have us. Existing SR teams?….keep them and have them play a second tier…or maybe NZ's NRC….if they'll have us. This is biting the bullet. We have the cattle
1 Go to commentsbest news and very helpful
4 Go to commentsA year ago Ireland and France looked impressive. In this 6N neither looked special. Both have lost good players, but more importantly teams have figured out how to shut them down. In particular the Irish loss to a rebuilding England and the home game struggle against a brave Scotland did nothing to prove that the Irish RWC result was undeserved. If the Scots can shut down the Irish attack, then SA can do so with interest. Rassie will have watched that game with confidence. Farrell is smart, and the Irish team is talented, so we should expect a more creative game plan in SA. But if all they bring is what they showed against Scotland then Ireland is going to struggle against the Boks. It was a fun 6N tournament, but the win for Ireland was as much about weak competition as about Irish brilliance. It was mostly due to France being off the boil, Wales and Italy not being contenders, and Scotland being a home game. England are looking much better, but “much better” should not be enough to topple a team that is supposed by some to be The Best in the World. I hope that Ireland can bump it up a notch or two for the Bok tour. A year ago they were fantastic to watch. It would be great to see that again.
24 Go to commentsLooking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
43 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
43 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
24 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
43 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
43 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
4 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments