British & Irish Lions ‘a juggernaut' and have ‘deeper understanding', says Jordie Barrett
Kick-off: 7:05pm Saturday 12 July
Sky Stadium, Wellington
Live blog updates on RNZ
If Sky are looking for a pundit for their British & Irish Lions tour coverage, they could do a lot worse than Jordie Barrett. In fact, it's a safe bet that the All Black second five is the most knowledgeable person in the country about the game in the UK right now, having returned from a unique stint
playing for Leinster
in the URC and Champions Cup.
Of course, Barrett has more important things to do on the upcoming weekends than sit in a TV studio. He was one of the better performers in the All Blacks'
31-27 win over France
on Saturday night and will likely feature in the next tests, but he will be keeping a close eye on what's transpiring
across the Tasman right now
too.
"They're (the Lions) playing a brand that looks fast and using the ball really well. It's going to be an exciting series," was Barrett's reaction to the Lions' three tour games so far, which have all been comfortable wins over the Force, Reds and Waratahs.
British and Irish Lions' Huw Jones dives to score a try during the rugby match between the British & Irish Lions and the NSW Waratahs.
Photo:
DAVID GRAY/AFP
Barrett's insights after his time away reveal a pretty big clue as to why the Lions have been able to click together relatively quickly on this tour.
"I feel like a lot of the teams in Europe now, they've got mixed nationalities among their teams. They share a lot of IP across competitions, a lot within every season. So, with that, they'll have a deeper understanding of each other by the way they try to play through opposing them every year. In some ways it's pretty similar to the way we come out of Super Rugby. We all understand each other, how each franchise is trying to play, and it's just trying to culminate and bring the best ideas and philosophies forward."
Barrett was full of praise for coach Andy Farrell, who is in charge of his first Lions team after taking over from Warren Gatland.
Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell
Photo:
PHOTOSPORT
"A Farrell-coached team, they're always going to be quality. You can see some Irish influence in there, the way they're trying to use the ball, then some really good kicking and running from base with (English halfback) Alex Mitchell and Jamison (Gibson-Park). So, yeah, it's, it's going to be a bit of a juggernaut that the Aussies are going to come up against."
He's not completely writing off the Wallabies, though.
"I do think Joe Schmidt will have something of a sleeve, so it's going to be a great watch."
Barrett said that the current rugby landscape is a bit of a melting pot, with his opportunity in Ireland just one way of connecting All Blacks to their traditional rivals as teammates.
"That was a big tipping point for me going to Leinster in the first place. For example, we had Tyler Bleyendaal who coached me here at the Hurricanes, and Robin McBride, who coached Wales for a number of years. The forwards coach, Jacques Nienaber, we all know his record (as Springbok coach) ... it speaks for itself. Then Leo Cullen, a very good head coach for Leinster too. So you've got four guys from four different international setups with different philosophies and ideas."
Jordie Barrett tackled by Deon Fourie.
Photo:
James Crombie / www.photosport.nz
It wasn't just the coaching staff, either.
"For me to walk into that environment alongside 23 or 24 international Irish players is, I arguably couldn't have been in a better place in terms of trying to grow my understanding and become a better rugby player. So, hopefully I've done that, I've felt like I've learned a lot."
So the question now is how does Barrett's newly found knowledge help the All Blacks? Coach Scott Robertson said that his midfielder is a "real rugby mind".
Leinster's Jack Conan lifts the URC trophy.
Photo:
Laszlo Geczo/Photosport
"He's a player-coach … he loves seeing different styles and I think getting to Ireland complimented that. He's come back and made sure he owns his own area and helped out where he can in others."
One area is the overall scant knowledge of the French side the All Blacks are currently playing. Barrett played against several of the key squad members during the Champions Cup, an experience that no doubt was fed back to Robertson and the coaching staff in preparation for the series.
"It's interesting going into team meetings and reviews, previews and just hearing different people's opinions and thoughts on things. It was great to challenge them, and it was just great to have some constructive conversations."
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