Jordie: No beef with Rieko
Jordie Barrett says there’s absolutely ‘‘no beef’’ between he and All Blacks team-mate Rieko Ioane.
The pair were Super Rugby foes on Saturday, as Barrett’s Hurricanes beat Ioane’s Blues 42-24 at Westpac Stadium. Ioane scored a brace of tries in the defeat, making a pointed comment in Barrett’s direction after scoring the first. You don’t often see that between All Blacks, particularly ones as mild mannered as Ioane and Barrett.
Ioane had taken a nice Stephen Perofeta ball on the Hurricanes’ 22 and scorched in to score in the corner, despite Barrett’s best efforts in cover defence. The Blues second five-eighth then turned and gave Barrett a blunt message.
‘‘We had a chat about that after the game, actually,’’ Barrett said yesterday. ‘‘He can’t actually remember what he said and neither could I.
‘‘He thought I dived on him after the try, but we both had a look and agreed that I tried to tackle him and stop the try but it was just one of those things and all lighthearted.
‘‘We’ve certainly got no beef.’’ After three games at centre, the Blues win marked Barrett’s return to fullback. He looked in great touch too, running the ball back with real venom.
On another day, one or two of his half or full-breaks would’ve resulted in tries.
Barrett also kicked goals for the Hurricanes, slotting six conversions. Brother Beauden has had first crack off the tee for most of this season and Jordie’s not exactly sure which of them will kick against the Chiefs on Friday.
‘‘Beaudy told me I was goalkicking in the warm-up on Saturday night, so it was just one of those things off the cuff. It just depends on who’s feeling better.’’
One thing he knows for sure is that the more positions he can fill, the more valuable he is to the teams he plays for. A second five-eighth in his heart, fullback’s the spot Barrett’s become known for, with centre a bit of a bonus.
The features of his fullback play tend to be belief and ambition. If there’s a positive option, Barrett backs himself to successfully take it and often does.
At centre, it was noticeable just how much satisfaction he got from smashing people.
‘‘It’s something I was to pride myself on; being physical. That’s one of the boxes you have to tick. Being a part of the midfield you’ve got to be combative and that was one of my focuses and just trying to implement that as much as possible,’’ he said. A New Zealand fighter says he now has a ‘‘target’’ on his back after emerging from a four-year retirement to win a professional boxing title.
Napier’s Beau O’Brien, 27, beat Siliveni Nawai by a technical knockout in the fifth round in Nadi on June 23 to take the World Boxing Foundation’s Australasian middleweight crown. It was his first major fight since returning to the gym last year, when he told Hawke’s Bay Today he had unfinished business in the ring after quitting due to business and family commitments.
‘‘I compare it with cigarette smokers who struggle to give up,’’ he said.
Nawai was the favourite in Fiji after winning all 11 of his professional bouts – eight by knockout.
But O’Brien stopped him in the fifth round to stun the 2000-strong Nadi crowd.
‘‘It’s always a challenge, stepping out of your own backyard and fighting in someone else’s backyard in a higher weight division,’’ O’Brien told One News yesterday. ‘‘[But] no risk, no reward.’’
O’Brien’s trainer Rod Langdon told One News that his charge looked the least likely fighter among a group of six friends when he ‘‘waddled in [to the Napier Boxing Club gym], a little bit overweight for a 14-yearold’’.
But O’Brien took to the sport and fashioned a respectable amateur career, winning 10 of 20 fights, including the national welterweight title in 2007.
After turning pro, Maxwell had four wins and a draw, with the highlight being his New Zealand Professional Boxing Association light middleweight title victory in 2013, as a 22-year-old.
He had his last bout in 2014 before electing to focus on his family, including two young daughters, and his business.