TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS
Matfield insists Barrett’s arrival at Blues can fire them to new heights
VICTOR MATFIELD predicts that Jordie Barrett’s move to Leinster will separate the Blues further from the chasing pack.
The Blues last won the URC title in 2021 and it is six years since they last lifted the Champions Cup trophy. However Leo Cullen’s side are pushing hard for silverware on the double at the business end of this season.
Former Springboks star Matfield has been impressed by the Blues’ signing of his compatriot Jacques Nienaber as senior coach – and, on the playing side, by Joe Mccarthy’s breakthrough season.
With top All Blacks performer Barrett joining next December for seven months from the Hurricanes, Matfield feels that Leinster can push on to a new level.
“It’s always great to bring a top player like that to your Union,” the former Boks second row said.
“It’s just a different view on how things work, taking some things from that, bringing IP from the All
Blacks to that squad.
“They’ve got this fantastic Ireland team that’s won everything, the
Leinster team that’s almost unbeatable, and you’ve added Jacques Nienaber so you’ve brought something from the successful Springboks.
“And now you’re bringing in Jordie Barrett, one of the stars of the All Blacks. It’s just adding more IP into that whole system, so that should make it more difficult for other teams – and it will probably just take Leinster further ahead of everyone else.”
Matfield admits he was “very surprised” by the performances produced by Mccarthy in this year’s Six Nations.
Selected by Andy Farrell for the opener in Marseille, Mccarthy was outstanding for Ireland on the night and went on to start in all five matches as the title was retained.
“When they picked him ahead of some other experienced guys, I thought who is this guy, and he stepped up,” said the World Cup winner.
“He had a really good Six Nations. He’s a fantastic ball carrier, he’s always in your face. So he’s very good for Ireland – he’s going to be valuable to that Irish pack for a long time to come.” Premier Sports pundit Matfield describes Nienaber as “the best defence coach in the world” – with the added quality of knowing how to win big matches.
He said: “He’s very confident in how he sees the game and what he believes in. When you get someone like that, even if it’s a team that has been playing differently to what he’s used to, he’ll bring something that will definitely help them.”