LEINSTER HAVE WELCOMED a positive update from Jordie Barrett on the knee injury he suffered during New Zealand’s Rugby Championship win over Australia last weekend.
The 27-year-old All Blacks centre will join the Irish province after this year’s November Tests so the sight of Barrett limping off at half time against the Wallabies would have been cause for concern.
However, the latest update from Barrett is that he should only be sidelined for four to six weeks with MCL damage in his knee.
Leinster attack coach Tyler Bleyendaal worked with Barrett for four seasons at the Hurricanes and has been keeping in touch with him ahead of the move.
“Yeah, I said, ‘Won’t be a long time ’til I’ll be seeing you,’ and he said ‘Yep, all good, sore knee,’ and I said, ‘Enjoy your beer at the Bledisloe,’ so I am sure he will be alright.
“I just leave him to it. I get in touch now and then and I’d see how his golf is going. He doesn’t need to be worrying about how we are going.
“He is still young but he has been around for a while. He is so experienced.
“I managed to get four seasons coaching him at the Hurricanes which is pretty special.”
Barrett will miss New Zealand’s closing Rugby Championship clash against Australia this weekend but he will be aiming to return in time for the November Test against Ireland in Dublin on Friday 8 November.
Fantastic news for irish squad development.
@brian o’leary: Indeed, hopefully in the Irish system we can unearth another D’Arcy-O’driscoll combination. Barrett is a quality operator and a bit like Brad Thorn when he came the knowledge he imparted on others was excellent.
@brian o’leary: yes it is. During the 6 nations when 16 to 20 leinster players are in the sqaud the younger players will have someone of his calibre for them to learn from.
@Caballo Blanco: you have no idea what Thorn did other than put Toner on the bench. What we do know is Leinster poached McCarthy from Connacht and the knowledge imparted on Beirne, Moloney and Roux got 2 released and one became a backup player.
@chris mcdonnell: I guess one will be trying to learn from the stands instead of the pitch? Are the leinster coach’s in the ireland squad for the 6 nations,?
@brian o’leary: when ringrose, henshaw, keenan, Gibsonpark, lowe, frawley, obrien, and maybe larmour and pendergast are away with Ireland, Barrett will be there with the younger players who are left. If they don’t learn from a world class player either in training or on the pitch along side we’ll that’s their loss. Not really sure what you mean about the leinster coaches but hey
@chris mcdonnell: I get that, it’s just that I see game time as the ultimate training/development tool and some of our guys will now be robbed of that experience. I’m more concerned about the high end games where there is more to be learned than the urc during the six nations.
The coaching point was that we should have would class coaches to do the coaching, if not, then maybe spend the budget there?
@brian o’leary: I have a feeling he’ll be thrown in at outhalf for the big European games – Leo doesn’t want to mess around this year
@brian o’leary: Why??
That’s a relief; I was worried about Leinster’s lack of strength-in-depth to cover the position.
@John Coffey: Yep we need top cover for our Centres during the International windows. Help the young lads on no end.
Does anyone know why we’re playing NZ on a Friday night in November? What happened to having all the Autumn Internationals kicking off at 5.30 on a Saturday?