Jordie Barrett carries leg injury into All Blacks' Eden Park clash with Ireland

Jordie Barrett missed Tuesday’s All Blacks training session at Albany’s North Harbour Stadium with a leg injury, but assistant coach Mike Blair indicated the 80-cap centre remains in contention for Saturday’s Nations Championship Test against Ireland at Eden Park.

Barrett, 29, was seen in an All Blacks tracksuit assisting teammates with drills rather than participating fully, including a one-on-one session with Will Jordan — who last weekend became the All Blacks’ all-time leading try-scorer. Barrett later joined the midfield group alongside Anton Lienert-Brown, Billy Proctor and Quinn Tupaea as training wound down.

“He’s just carrying a bit of an injury so we’re just being cautious with him,” Blair told reporters. “He’s been really important for us the last couple of games, the last few years as well. Just making sure that he gets up to 100 per cent.”

Barrett has logged almost 140 minutes across New Zealand’s first two Tests of the season. He spent the 2024/25 club season with Leinster before returning home to help the Hurricanes claim a Super Rugby Pacific title last month, meaning Saturday’s match would pit him against a number of former teammates.

Ireland are visiting New Zealand for the first time in four years, having claimed a historic 2-1 series win on that occasion — including their first-ever Test victory on New Zealand soil. The All Blacks, however, have won their last three meetings with Ireland, most recently a 13-point victory in Dublin last November, and are looking to extend an unbeaten run at Eden Park that stretches to 52 matches.

“Ireland have consistently shown in the last five, six years that they’re a top-three, top-four team in the world,” Blair said. “They’ve obviously got a number of brilliant individuals but they’ve got real cohesion amongst the guys who are playing, the coaching group and what they’re trying to do on the pitch.”