Jordie Barrett: All Blacks midfielder on his Ireland sabbatical, Rieko Ioane signing with Leinster

All Blacks midfielder Jordie Barrett has revealed his partner in crime Rieko Ioane reached out for some advice before signing a sabbatical deal with Irish club Leinster for 2026. 

Despite receiving interest from Japan, Ioane made the bombshell move by following in Barrett’s footsteps with a move to Dublin to play in the United Rugby Championship (URC), which features teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa. 

Ioane will make the move at the end of the year for a six-month stint between December and June, which rules him out for the Super Rugby Pacific season with the Blues but he remains eligible for the All Blacks. 

Ioane’s announcement was met with a mainly positive response, although some Leinster faithful were clearly still bitter after his feud with the club’s favourite son and all-time leading points scorer, Johnny Sexton, which started after the All Blacks knocked Ireland out of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. 

After plenty of backchat on the field, Ioane told Sexton to enjoy retirement and to not miss his flight home after New Zealand’s quarter-final win. 

With Sexton relitigating that personal clash in his book, Ioane was widely painted as public enemy No 1 in the build-up to the All Blacks and Ireland rematch in Dublin last November. 

Ioane led the haka before the match and played a key role on the field as the All Blacks went on to snap Ireland’s 19-game unbeaten run at home. Ioane posted a picture to social media with the caption “put that in the book” to double down on his villain status in Ireland. 

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine, Barrett said he believed Ioane can stamp his mark in Ireland. 

“He sounded me out about 10 days ago and just asked a few questions,” he said. 

“He didn’t say a whole lot, so I didn’t get a good inkling of where his head or heart was, but look, I woke up on my day off and the news had dropped on my phone. 

“It gave me 24 hours, without having a barrage of questions at training the morning I went in there, so I got all of them yesterday. 

“He’ll go great. It’s a great place to develop and he’ll see a lot of improvements up here as a player, and get out of his comfort zone in Auckland and the Blues and [it’s] a chance to grow. 

“I think it’s a great challenge for him.” 

Leinster's Tommy O'Brien and Jordie Barrett celebrate following the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin in Ireland. (Photo by Damien Eagers/PA Images via Getty Images)

Barrett admits it’s been an adjustment for him, but he’s loving life in Ireland, especially on the golf course. 

When Barrett announced his move to Ireland, it came as a shock as most players tend to take their sabbatical in Japan, like his brother Beauden did last year. 

In fact, he was the first All Black since 2009 to choose Europe over Japan, when Dan Carter signed with Perpignan. 

While there were concerns around his workload due to the demands of European rugby, Barrett said he had an extended break while the Six Nations took place in February and March. 

During that time, a limited of matches were played and when they were, youngsters were given opportunities to prove themselves. 

That rest has helped Barrett stay focused to help Leinster charge towards winning titles. 

In the URC, they have only lost once this season – by one point to the Bulls in Pretoria – and hold an eight-point lead over the defending champions Glasgow Warriors with four games remaining in the regular season. 

They face the Warriors in the final match of the season but will be confident after crushing them 52-0 in the European Championship quarter-finals last weekend. 

Barrett, who has played nine games thus far between second five and fullback, admits there ha

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from Newstalk sed B.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
All Blacksmidfield at Jordy Barrett is nearing the end of
his sabbatical with Leinster, which has been an extremely successful one.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Gipson Park has it wasting no time man for Hanshaw,
Teagan chakesaid, Judy Parts.

Speaker 4 (00:29):
He crushes over enough to Chason two games.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
I'd ready for Pilot.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Leinster on track for an historic double. They are top
of the United Rugby Championship with four games to go
and in the semi finals of the champions Cup against
Northampton on the third of May, and that is a
no small part due to the influence of Jordi Barrett,
who has been exceptional for them since his arrival. Jordi
Barrett is with us on Weekend Sport. Thanks for taking

(00:57):
the time time, Jordy. How happy have you been with
the way your sabbatical has played out in general terms
so far?

Speaker 4 (01:04):
Yeah, good to chat Finney.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
It's been It's been great somewhat coming up here into
the unknown, but the challenge is what enticed me and
it's been a good transition so far. And in terms
of the coaching has been great, great group of boys obviously,
which helps. Majority being Irish internationals which also helps too,

(01:28):
And yeah, it's enjoying a change of scene and you're
out of my comfort zone in some ways.

Speaker 4 (01:34):
So the foot has been going good.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Has the standard of the rugby in the USC and
also of the Champions Cup being what you expected it
would be.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah, probably as expected.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
I mean there's been some challenging games and then I mean, respectfully,
there's been some yeah, games that have been a little
bit below I guess the top of the table clashes,
but that's just the way it is and the way
it works, particularly a Leinster like throughout the six Nations,
you lose twenty two or twenty three internationals, and all

(02:08):
of a sudden you're playing with a lot of academy
players or young guys or guys that are on the
brink of international So it's a great challenge in that
sense and a good leveler and an opportunity to lead
throughout those weeks when you have the opportunities, and then
when internationals come back, you're kind of just got to
worry about doing your job.

Speaker 4 (02:27):
So it's been a nice balance.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Have you been mainly playing at second five or have
you had some games at fallback as well?

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yes, mostly, Well, I mean it's probably it's been a
fifty to fifty split in terms of fifteen and twelve.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
Spend most of my training at twelve. But it's been
nice in that sense.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
It's being able to bounce between a couple of positions again.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
And look, I've been enjoying my footy at fifteen.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's nice to get back there and see the game
a little bit differently. And I've had a few couple
of games you at fallback, so yeah, But of late
the past month so I've been at twelve, which has
been enjoyable too.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
I remember you said when you made this to Vision
that you wanted to go somewhere that would improve your
rugby and allow you to come back as a better player.
Do you think that's happened? Do you think you'll come
back a better play?

Speaker 4 (03:17):
I think so.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
I reserve that joke for people watching on the telly,
But I feel like I'm growing my game. Like I said,
it was a challenge come up here, become familiar with
another system and different coaches and players in a different
culture and environment. So I feel like my rugby is improving,
which is nice and it's never ending. Like any footy

(03:42):
player just wants to improve, and I feel like I'm
making slight improvements. So look, I can keep getting better
in the back end of the season.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
Semi finals and finals coming up.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
So yeah, hopefully we give ourselves another chance and earn
the right to make a European final in a few
weeks time and then push deep into the UC competition.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
I know there was some concern among some people that
you didn't have much of a break between the end
of season two with the All Blacks. At the back
end of twenty twenty four you went straight to Leinster,
but the White set up over there with six Nations
and the calendar, you had most of February. In fact,
I think all of February and a decent chunk of
March when you didn't play. So did that give you
the break that you needed to refresh?

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, for sure, I think there's absolutely no concern in
terms of my workload. Leinster have been standing and managing that.
I went eight weeks without playing footyah throughout that January
February Six Nations phase, and it got to a stage
where actually felt like I needed to start playing footy again.
So I've been managing me really well. I felt fresh

(04:45):
ready to come back, particularly last month or so playing rugby,
and there was an opportunity to like I spent a
couple of weeks out of the environment and then I
had a good five or six week block where I
was able to recondition, get in the gym and train
fully from Yeah, I guess Monday to Saturday throughout the week,
so mentally physically I was in a great spot ready

(05:08):
to launch into this back end of the season.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
It's been a great season for Leinster, top of the URC,
four games to go, semi finals of the Champions Cup,
just one loss all season and that was by one
point against the Balls that loft us. What have been
some of the main reasons for the team's success.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah, the way the foundation of Leinster and look, they've
got a great academy system. A lot of boys come
out of schools based here in Dublin, Saint Michael's Black
Rock for example, come through the academy system. They want
to be here because they feel like they develop in

(05:46):
a great system around good coaches and can learn off
a lot of international players in the Irish team.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
So look, it helps.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
When everyone's available and you've got the caliber of player
like I learned to before twenty three international test caps
in your twenty three, and then you've got these guys
continually developing and growing underneath them. When the international players
get rotated out or they're away for six Nations duty,

(06:15):
it gives opportunities to the younger guys and then it's
I guess perfect development for them where they don't actually
need to be playing every week, so they might have
a couple of games then come out of the twenty
three and they get the opportunity to sit back, learn
from older players and go through those review preview processes,
and it's just a great club for I guess developing

(06:36):
as a player.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
Your last game was a comfortable went over Glasgow in
the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup. You got rave reviews
for your own performance. How pleased were you with the
way you're played in that game specifically?

Speaker 4 (06:49):
Yeah, I was very pleased, Poney.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
I mean I was only you dual week because I
mean I was starting at twelve and Robbie Henshaw, who's
been an Irish legion and Lynx legend, was playing one
hundredth cap that day, so internally there's a lot of
added pressure way. But look, Leo's always said conversations might
be on the bench, I might be starting wherever I

(07:13):
fit into the puzzle. It doesn't matter as long as
it equates to some good rugby and ideally wins and
who knows, hopefully a trophy or two at the.

Speaker 4 (07:22):
Back end of the season.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
So look, I'm happy with the way I'm going at
the moment, but the challenging footy is all ahead of me,
so I can't wait to get stuck in. We've got
Ulster this weekend, another USC game, then Northampton and the
European semi final and absolutely flying at the moment.

Speaker 4 (07:44):
Some great players over there.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
So you'll return to New Zealand in time for the
All Black season, which starts against France and July. So
how would you compare playing for Leinster as preparation for
an international season compared to what you've known up till now,
which is playing for the Hurricanes and Super Rugby.

Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, I'm not sure.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
I mean the transition, I guess is obviously different because
I'm in a different team and up here in Europe.
But I mean, if we make the UC fine our
finals on the fourteenth Junes. They're not dissimilar to the
Super Raggy Boys, whoever final around the same time. So
in terms of rest transition is this I guess the

(08:25):
same in terms of time frame, but I'm not sure.
I feel like I'll be ready to go and hopefully
packed and ready to take some form into into an
all Black jersey, which is the main reason why I
wanted to come up here in the first place.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
How much contact have you had with Scott Robertson while
you've been away?

Speaker 3 (08:48):
Yeah, a little bit, Yeah, said the odd text, which
is nice, and yeah, it shows he's keeping an eye
on things and some of the other coaches, so ye're
just touching base and making sure things are tracking well
and yeah, I mean ultimately just healthy and playing good footy.

Speaker 4 (09:04):
So yeah, I had a bit of contact there.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
And you're all black Smithfield partner Rico Yuani coming up
to Lynster next year almost a straight swap. Did he
call you for any advice?

Speaker 4 (09:16):
He did.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
He sounded me out about ten days ago and just
asked to see questions and yeah, didn't didn't say a
whole lot, so I didn't really understand. Sorry, I didn't
get a good inkling of where his head or heart was.
But look, I wake up yesterday and my day off
and the news had dropped on my phone.

Speaker 4 (09:35):
So it's probably good timing.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
It's gave me twenty four hours without having a barrage
of questions at training the morning I went in there,
so that I got all there yesterday.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
How do you reckon he'll go over there, Rico, No.

Speaker 4 (09:50):
He'll go great.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
Like I said, it's a great place to develop as
a player, and he'll see a lot of improvements, no
doubt app here as a player, and I guess out
of his comfort zone in Auckland and the Blues and
a chance to grow.

Speaker 4 (10:04):
So my thing is a great chant.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
For him and Tyler Blandell's part of the coaching set
up up there. You worked with him at the Hurricanes,
of course, how have you enjoyed reconnecting with him and
how is he going up there?

Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yeah? He's going really good. Yeah, the boys of Love
and the way he coaches and.

Speaker 3 (10:20):
Spend some nice tries and plenty of points put out
there last few weeks, So long may that last luck.

Speaker 4 (10:25):
Tyler's going great.

Speaker 3 (10:26):
And the challenges will be going forward deeper into this competition.
When you were facing stronger defended systems the big finals
and that's when hopefully we can here put in some
good work and get over the line.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
And it's not all about rugby. I know you love
your golf. Have you managed to get a few rounds in?

Speaker 4 (10:46):
Yeah, it's been good, good in that sense, thanks Piney.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
I mean the clocks have just gone back and the
weather started to improve, so there's a little bit of
color in Ireland in the past month or so which.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
Has been good.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
So December and January pretty bleak, but I look, I've
had a nice we balanced there off field and been
able to enjoy plenty of good golf courses in Ireland,
so it's been.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
Awesome, excellent to hear well. The rugby is obviously going well,
the golf as well. No doubt you're keeping an eye
on Super Rugby back here. I presume it's sort of
breakfast time matches for you if you're watching them over there.

Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yes, perfect, Yes, sit in front of the telly some
mornings on the weekend when you've either got Captain drun
or game day and it's great to sit down and
watch Super Rugby. It's pretty tough to get engage John,
who's going to win a game these days that it's
great for the competition and it's competitive, so it's exciting
to watch.

Speaker 2 (11:37):
Certainly, is all the best for the rest of your
time over there, Jordy, it's going well. As I say,
I hope you get some silver were to enjoy at
the back end of the Northern season and I look
forward to having your back here for the All Black
season in mid July.

Speaker 4 (11:48):
Mate. Thanks Piny, great to chat.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yes, great to chat to you too, Jordi. Thanks indeed, Jordy.
Barrett there joining us on Weekend Sport.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Faine, listen live
to News Talk zed B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.