Jacques Nienaber reveals why Jordie Barrett was benched vs Northampton
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Dropped.
Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber has clarified the reasoning behind Jordie Barrett being benched for their Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints.
Barrett made a huge impact off the bench, with many fans livid that he didn’t start the game, and some reports claiming that Leinster were blocked from starting him over their fit Ireland internationals.
But Nienaber has given his reasoning for starting Ringrose and Henshaw in midfield ahead of the All Black.
“We have three international midfielders if you put Jordie in as an international midfielder,” Nienaber said.
“I’m not even speaking about Jamie [Osborne], who’s played a decent match against South Africa at 12 when McCloskey went off, and they beat South Africa…we’ve got quality midfielders.
“You’ve got to think about how you can get the best…look at the opposition, what strength they pose, how they finish games, what their potential bench would look like, what our end of the game potentially would look like in terms of guidance, stability, experience. And then you make a decision.”
But Nienaber did admit that perhaps Leinster got their selection decision wrong.
“Like I say, we get it wrong sometimes,” Nienaber added.
“In my opinion, this year, if you look at the win percentage, you probably got it more right than wrong. But yes, we do get it wrong. We’re not geniuses at getting everything right.
“With hindsight, it doesn’t matter what I say, people will say you got it wrong. You can’t argue, because we didn’t get the result. If we got the result, nobody would have even lifted an eyebrow.”
