Jordie Barrett would be within his rights to stick his hand up and politely ask for an early start to his off-season. Maybe sit out the All Blacks’ end-of-year tour and get started early on that summer tan and the golf handicap. It’s not like he hasn’t earned it.
Fat chance. There’s about as much prospect of that as a Scott Robertson and Ian Foster hug-out. Not only is Barrett fine with the load he’s carried the last couple of years, but he’s energised by it. Players play, and right now the younger of the All Blacks’ three Barrett brothers cannot get enough footy.
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Barrett, the lynchpin of the All Blacks midfield for Perth’s Flight Centre Rugby Championship finale, last had an off-season immediately after the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. Since then the 76-Test All Black has been playing pretty much continuous rugby for the best part of two years and, wouldn’t you know it, feels a million dollars.
His performance in last Saturday’s Bledisloe opener in Auckland, when he was a crucial contributor to the 33-24 All Blacks victory, testified to that. He ran for 60 metres on 19 carries, beat four defenders, slipped a pair of offloads, nailed a backline-best 11 tackles without a miss and was a soaring presence in the aerial strategy.
In fact, the 28-year-old is adamant he’s got more than enough juice in the tank to get him through, not just this Rugby Championship, but till the end of the year, and a Grand Slam tour. Take it from him, he’s not looking for either a break, or anyone’s pity.
This has been Barrett’s last year and a-half: he finished up the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season with the Hurricanes (a semi-final exit after claiming the minor premiership); jumped straight on board with Scott Robertson’s All Blacks and played 11 of the 14 Tests in his inaugural campaign; then headed to Leinster in Ireland where he spent the ‘24-25 season playing an intrinsic role in a URC title-winning season, and a Champions Cup run that only fell at the final-four hurdle; and, finally, he has returned to New Zealand to slot straight back into Robertson’s Test lineup, featuring in all eight internationals played thus far.
After all that, he feels just fine. “I’m 28,” he shrugs. “Physically and mentally I’m really good. The body is in a great spot, and the mind is in a good spot which is all I can ask for. I’m aware I’ve been playing rugby for a long time, but I’m also at an age now where my body should be able to handle it.
“Hopefully I’ve got a lot more rugby ahead of me and the fire is still burning inside. I’ve got plenty of juice in the tank. You train your whole life to be in this environment, there’s some unbelievable games on the horizon, and you just want to be fit and healthy and playing well.”
You won’t catch Barrett complaining about anything to do with his sabbatical with Leinster. He loved every aspect of it, and connected so well with the club and its fanbase he is not ruling out a return some time in the future..
“I got everything out of it that I wanted, and probably more,” reflects Barrett who spent time as a child in Ireland and felt the pull to return. “Athough there was a European Cup we left behind. But that’s the way it goes. We managed to win the URC which is something we haven’t done for quite a while. It was an amazing experience, just learning from being in different situations and settings, around different people and on a different continent.”
For Barrett it was a sabbatical about more than rugby, which was precisely why he broke from the well-travelled pathway to Japan to experience something altogether different.
“When I weighed up the options I just thought that Ireland was the best option for me at that point of my career, given the circumstances, and the people at Leinster and Ireland. There was a bit of family history there too, and also it just being a different place I was unfamiliar with and challenging myself on and off the field … I was absolutely thrilled the way things went. I bloody loved it.
“The people were great, I was well coached, I was looked after in terms of workload and had very good players around me and enjoyed playing European Cup and URC rugby.
“I was managed so well, and felt the more rugby I played and the bigger the games, the better I felt and the better I was playing too.”
It’s why he’s not ruling out a return at some stage.
“I’ll never close those doors,” he nods. “Who knows … yeah, maybe.”
In the meantime Barrett has an All Blacks season to finish, with the Perth Bledisloe matchup followed by an end-of-year Grand Slam tour. And by the looks of a busy effort at Eden Park, he has all the juice in the tank he needs to wrap it up in style.
