Jordie Barrett

Jordie Barrett is the youngest of rugby’s first family and, by the end of the last World Cup cycle, arguably its most complete footballer — a Hurricanes inside centre with a full-back’s skill set, a goal-kicker’s boot and the frame of a blindside flanker. His sabbatical season with Leinster made him that rarest thing: an All Black whose absence was felt in two hemispheres at once.

His career is a study in positional patience. Capped young as a utility, Barrett spent seasons being brilliant in three jerseys while pundits demanded he settle in one; the move to twelve solved everything. At inside centre his kicking options release the fly-half from exit duty, his flat power fixes defenders for the strike runners outside, and his aerial ability adds a second target to every contestable kick — a package no other Test twelve offers in full.

The Leinster sabbatical was the fascinating chapter: a serving All Black embedding in Irish club rugby’s most sophisticated environment, learning its systems from inside, then returning home with, by his own account, a broader rugby education. Analysts on both sides noted how much each system borrowed from the other afterwards.

In Dave Rennie’s rebuilt side — unbeaten through 2026 at six from six in our database — the Barrett brothers remain central infrastructure, and the four-Test Greatest Rivalry series in South Africa is the collision everyone circled: Jordie’s midfield control against the Springbok rush, the best kick-pressure attack meeting the best kick-pressure defence.