Jack Barrett: The boy from lightning ridge in love with the dark arts of scrummaging
He’s a red-headed prop from Lighting Ridge and loves nothing more than to scrum.
There’s a lot to like about returning Junior Wallabies front rower Jack Barrett, even after he shaved off his mullet.
As an underage player, Barrett was one of Australia’s best in 2023 and dominated at scrum time particularly in New Zealand in a two-match series against the Kiwis last May.
“The whole forward pack was up for it against New Zealand,” Barrett told Rugby News.
“In the front row we were working really well together and it just sort of happened. It’s always a big advantage when you can have a dominant scrum and we’re hoping we can repeat that this year.”
With no rugby club within 100 kilometres of Lightning Ridge, Barrett played rugby league as a youngster but fell in love with rugby and sticking his head in a scrum not long after playing his first game of rugby at Joeys as a 13-year old.
“My father, my grandfather and all my cousins all went to school and played rugby at Joeys so I always knew that’s where I’d end up,” Barrett explained.
“I think my dad might of played hooker at one stage but none of them were props.
“I really love the dark arts of scrummaging. There’s a whole heap of little things you can do to throw off your opponent and as a prop, it’s your job to find a way to win your one-on-one battle in every scrum.
“There aren’t many other individual battles like that in rugby and when you do get on top, there’s no better feeling.”
Barrett has been getting on top of his rivals more often than not for quite a few years now.
After winning a GPS first XV title at Hunters Hill, Barrett was picked in the Australian U18s side in 2022. He trained as part of the Waratahs academy in his final years at school, then was promoted to train with the top squad last year and eventually made his Super Rugby debut against the Rebels in round six.
“It was very surreal, I wasn’t expecting it to come as early as it did but I loved the opportunity. I had all my family travel down from Lightning Ridge and plenty of friends there to watch it so it was a pretty special night.”
Now, he’s one of the more experienced players in a Junior Wallabies squad that will play matches against Argentina, South Africa and New Zealand in the next fortnight, before heading to the U20s World Cup in South Africa in June.
“We spent a week together in the Kangaroo Valley last week and that helped us really come together as a group,” Barrett told Rugby News.
“We worked hard on the training paddock and spent plenty of time together off the field and there’s a really good feeling in the group.
“Last year we only played New Zealand before the World Cup then went straight in to our first pool game, but this year we will get to play New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa.
“It’s exciting to play different sides and get a chance to play against a few different styles before we head to the World Cup.”
Barrett has been named to start against Argentina on the Sunshine Coast on Thursday night and said the group were excited to test themselves in this first hit out.
“We’ve seen the Argentinians walking around over the last few days. They look pretty big but we’ll be up for it in the forwards. At scrum and maul time, we’ve just got to be tighter and lower than them and we’ve been working on that during the week.
“We’ve got a strong forward pack. Our captain Toby Macpherson from Canberra has been really impressive so far, he’s probably one to keep an eye on.”
Junior Wallabies team to play Argentina U20s – Thursday, 7pm (Stan Sport):
- Jack Barrett (Waratahs)
- Bryn Edwards (Waratahs)
- Tevita Alatini (Brumbies)
- Toby Macpherson (Brumbies – captain)
- Harvey Cordukes (Brumbies)
- Aden Ekanayake (Waratahs)
- Joe Liddy (Reds)
- Jack Harley (Brumbies)
- Doug Philipson (Force)
- Joey Fowler (Rebels)
- Xavier Rubens (Reds)
- Ronan Leahy (Force – vice captain)
- Jarrah McLeod (Brumbies)
- Will McCulloch (Reds)
- Shane Wilcox (Brumbies)
- Nathaniel Tiitii (Waratahs)
- Tavi Tuipulotu (Rebels)
- Nick Bloomfield (Reds)
- Ben Daniels (Reds)
- Ben Di Staso (Waratahs)
- Hwi Sharples (Waratahs)
- Cullen Gray (Brumbies)
- Angus Staniforth (Brumbies)