Who is Jordie Barrett: Ten things you should know about the All Black

The versatile Jordie Barrett, who can play at wing, full-back and even centre, is renowned for his long-range kicking ability and skills under the high ball.

Ten things you should know about Jordie Barrett

1. Jordie Barrett was born in New Plymouth on 15 February 1997 and attended Francis Douglas Memorial College, which produced former All Black coach John Mitchell and centre Conrad Smith. He then attended Lincoln University in Canterbury, where he studied commerce.

2. Barrett was a promising cricketer, an opening bowler and middle-order batsman, and coach Dion Ebrahim, a former Zimbabwe international, thought he had spotted a future Black Cap when he captained Barrett for Taranaki.

He was always going to choose rugby but Ebrahim said: “He had all the attributes and characteristics to make it as a Black Cap or successful first-class cricketer.”

3. Barrett toured the northern hemisphere as an apprentice All Black in 2016 after playing one season of Mitre 10 Cup rugby for Canterbury. He then made his Hurricanes debut in 2017, scoring 135 points that season with seven tries.

4. Barrett became the third of the Barrett brothers to be capped by the All Blacks in 2017, in a 78-0 win over Samoa at Eden Park, following on from Beauden in 2012 and Scott in 2016. He scored a try in the drawn third Test against the British & Irish Lions in 2017.

5. Barrett recovered from a severe shoulder injury to return to the All Blacks team in 2018. When he started, with Beauden and Scott, in the first Test against France, it was the first time New Zealand had had three brothers in their starting XV. They had been named in a match-day 23 a year earlier against Samoa.

6. Later in 2018, Barrett scored four tries against Italy, in a 66-3 win in Rome on New Zealand’s end-of-year tour to Europe. He was the third All Black to score four in an international game that decade following on from brother Beauden and Zac Guildford.

7. Barrett could have stayed in Canterbury and played for the Crusaders under Scott Robertson, who had also been his coach with the New Zealand U20. But he moved to the Hurricanes saying: “I was kind of still fan-boying the Hurricanes. They’re the team I grew up supporting my whole life and if I’d known at ten years old that I would have the opportunity to play for the Canes, I would have taken it just like that.”

8. Barrett started two games at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan and came off the bench in three, against Ireland, in the semi-final against England and the bronze medal match against Wales.

9. Barrett was the first player to be sent off under the 20-minute red card law that was trialled in the Rugby Championship. He was dismissed for a boot to the face of Australian winger Marika Koroibete in the All Blacks’ 38-21 win in Perth. The new law meant he could be replaced after 20 minutes and Barrett was subsequently cleared.

10. Barrett kicked the winning penalty in the 19-17 win over South Africa in Townsville shortly after his reprieve from the red card. It was the 100th Test between the two countries.

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