Jordie Barrett to join Leinster on short-term deal

All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett will be heading to Ireland in December after signing a short-term deal with Leinster.

The 27-year-old has already signed a contract with New Zealand Rugby until 2028 but a sabbatical clause will allow him to miss the 2025 Super Rugby season.

Also moving to Ireland will see Barrett joining his family as they moved to County Meath in 2000.

He started his professional rugby career with Canterbury in 2016 before making his Super Rugby debut with Hurricanes a year later. Barrett has played 57 Tests for the All Blacks and was part of the squads that competed in the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups.

“It’s a special place for the Barrett family,” he said.

“We’ve got so many great family connections in Oldcastle, in County Meath and throughout Dublin. To have an opportunity to go back and meet some family and friends and connections that were made 20 years ago is pretty cool.

“I’m certainly grateful to New Zealand Rugby – the Hurricanes are sending me off with their best wishes and are very excited which is awesome – and obviously to Razor for signing off.

“The reality of being a professional athlete is that you’ve only got a small window to have these opportunities and I’d love to be sitting there in twenty or thirty years with my kids or grandkids, knowing that I left no stone unturned, and I took up this opportunity to better myself.”