IT WAS STILL 0-0 in the 13th minute in Dublin on Friday night.

But by the 33rd, when Adam Hastings returned from his yellow card, Glasgow trailed Leinster on a 26-0 scoreline.

The game was over as a contest after a period in which All Blacks star Jordie Barrett showed why he’s considered one of the best players in the world.

Leinster often use Barrett’s powerful ball-carrying to win the gainline when attacking from set-pieces, but his slick skills mean he can play late passes close to defenders, as in the case below.

It’s a clever lineout play from Leinster as number eight Jack Conan initially draws counterpart Sione Vailamu [red below] and Barrett ties up Hastings [yellow].

Leinster right wing Tommy O’Brien [green below] bursts forward from behind Conan to take the inside pass from Barrett.

The defensive challenge for Glasgow is underlined when we look at the Leinster trio’s starting positions just a few seconds earlier before the lineout.

Conan [red] is outside Barrett [yellow], while O’Brien [green] is close to the 15-metre line on the inside.

So there’s movement for Glasgow to track before scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park passes towards Barrett.

The play is predicated on Barrett being able to catch-and-pass very quickly before Hastings can make contact with him.

He does exactly that with a basketball-style pass to hit the accelerating O’Brien and though Vailanu recovers out to just about tackle the Leinster wing, they’re well over the gainline and instantly playing on top of Glasgow.

Leinster swing the ball wide left and on their way back, Barrett features again as a distributor, setting up in the boot behind a pod of three forwards.

RG Snyman sweeps the ball out the back to Barrett, who draws in one defender and passes for Tadhg Furlong to carry. 

Barrett swings across to Leinster’s right-hand side as Joe McCarthy then takes an inside pass from Sam Prendergast, making big gains before offloading to Conan.

As Conan carries, we can see Barrett scanning to his right to assess the state of Glasgow’s defence for the next phase.

Barrett signals for O’Brien to run a short line on his outside and calls for the ball from Gibson-Park.

Barrett then uses a goose step as he receives the ball, getting both feet off the ground before accelerating upon landing, taking himself to the outside of Glasgow lock Alex Samuel [green below] and giving wing Jamie Dobie [red] a worry on his inside.

Barrett is waiting for Dobie to give him his final cue.

If Dobie bites in on Barrett, the Leinster centre will probably slip a pre-contact pass to O’Brien.

But if Dobie sits off, Barrett backs himself to take contact from Samuel and offload to O’Brien in behind Dobie. 

The second option is ideal as Barrett dummies a pass and Dobie sits off him.

Barrett uses his left arm to provide a bumper into the contact with Samuel, freeing his right to throw the offload to O’Brien.

And despite Dobie trying to stop him, O’Brien seals the deal with a slick catch-pass that gives Max Deegan enough space and time to notch the opening try in the right corner.

These three touches of the ball show the handling skill and decision-making quality that Barrett offers.

On top of all of his class, Barrett is a player who works extremely hard, as he showed with a try-saving defensive effort a few minutes later.

O’Brien’s kick is blocked by Kyle Rowe near the touchline and the Glasgow man collects the ball after it comes off his chest.

Suddenly, opportunity knocks for Glasgow.

Rowe accelerates and fends off a tackle attempt from Prendergast.

Fortunately for Leinster, Barrett has already reacted swiftly to O’Brien’s kick being blocked, sprinting back downfield in an instant, as we see below.

Leinster have been on the attack for a number of phases before this, so it’s not like Barrett has been hanging out in the backfield.

The fact that he’s already closing in on his own 10-metre line as he corner-flags here shows how quick he has been to react.

So as Rowe beats Prendergast and nears the Leinster 22, Barrett is in position to tackle him.

Rowe opts to chip the ball infield but Barrett shows good agility to turn and re-accelerate, beating the fatiguing Rowe in the race.

Barrett then demonstrates his poise by swatting past Rowe, scanning the backfield and launching a kick.

It’s a howitzer of an effort from Barrett, showcasing another part of his skillset.

So now it’s Glasgow who are in retreat mode as Kyle Steyn scrambles back to recover the ball.

And it’s Barrett who leads the chase, giving Steyn little option other than to kick for touch.

Steyn does find a good touch near the Leinster 10-metre line but it’s still a win for the home side from a situation that looked worrying.

A period of Leinster pressure ensues, with Barrett contributing another important kick before they earn a penalty try.

Skipper Caelan Doris has just won a breakdown turnover, meaning Glasgow are in transition from attack to defence when Barrett identifies backfield space.

Dobie [green above] is up high on the edge of the defensive line, while Rowe [yellow] is on the far side of the posts in the backfield.

That leaves space for Barrett to slide a lovely grubber kick into, giving it enough weight to run well behind Glasgow but also to come up short of the tryline.

Hugo Keenan chases energetically and fells Dobie as he looks to run the ball out.

O’Brien is also involved in the tackle on the isolated Dobiue before he releases and jackals for another clean turnover.

From there, Gibson-Park finds Prendergast with a long pass, his cross-kick finds Rónan Kelleher and the hooker’s inside pass is deliberately knocked on by Hastings for a penalty try and yellow card.

Leinster soon add their third try through James Lowe for a 19-0 lead.

And as 14-man Glasgow desperately search for a way back into the game, Barrett shows another of his skills with his first breakdown turnover of the evening.

It comes from a Glasgow scrum attack and initially Barrett has to worry about first receiver Stafford McDowall, as highlighted above.

But watch below how Barrett instantly slides off McDowall as he passes to Rowe, dropping in behind Garry Ringrose as he tackles Rowe.

That sharp movement from Barrett means he can help to finish the tackle, pushing Rowe to ground and then jackal for the ball.

We can see below that openside flanker Josh van der Flier has worked into position to jackal from the inside too.

Barrett wins the race to the ball and with van der Flier helping to ensure McDowall is ineffective at the breakdown, the Leinster centre comes away with yet another turnover for his team.

Barrett then concludes by offloading to van der Flier as Leinster counter.

Barrett is soon back on the ball as Leinster create their fourth try with Hastings still in the bin.

It’s another Leinster lineout attack with Barrett serving as the fulcrum for the kind of ‘blocker’ play that so many teams use these days.

Gibson-Park hits Barrett, who has Ringrose coming short on his outside as Prendergast swings out the back.

Barrett does a characteristically good job of making Glasgow guess where the ball is going.

Because Barrett looks like he could pass short to Ringrose, McDowall can’t shoot out the back early onto Prendergast. So that means that when Prendergast gets the pass from Barrett, the out-half has time to get the ball away too.

It’s a lovely skip pass from Prendergast as he beats Dobie to find Keenan, whose own catch-pass is excellent.

O’Brien does the rest with an excellent finish, showing his pace and footwork.

Hastings soon returns from the sin bin but with just 33 minutes gone, Glasgow trail 26-0.

The Barrett-inspired Leinster never look back, crossing for another try just moments later.

If Leinster are to get over the line in the Champions Cup this season, it looks like Barrett will be key.