Tyler Bleyendaal doesn't agree with the suggestion that Jordie Barrett's spell at Leinster will harm his chances of selection by New Zealand this summer.
The All Black centre has been a major hit at the province since arriving on a short-term contract in December, his latest appearance a player-of-the-match performance against Glasgow Warriors in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final.
Barrett has scored four tries in nine games so far for the province, and will have several more big games ahead of him before he returns home in the summer, with a Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton Saints next week, and URC play-off rugby already secured.
The 28-year-old should be back on deck for the All Blacks when they take on France in a Test series in July, but former New Zealand out-half Stephen Donald has questioned whether Barrett deserves to go straight back into the national side, citing the "low" standard of the BKT United Rugby Championship.
"The URC competition is probably a low, a very, very low level compared to Super Rugby, the Champions Cup stuff certainly would be [of the same level]," the World Cup-winning out-half said on 'The Breakdown’.
"Would I start him? Not necessarily, and nothing to do with his form, but more of a reward for the boys who have been in Super Rugby and played well all year."
It’s worth noting that only three of Barrett’s nine Leinster games have come in the URC, against Connacht and Stormers at home, as well as the away trip to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
Leinster’s attack coach Bleyendaal (below), who spent four years coaching his fellow Kiwi Barrett in Super Rugby with the Hurricanes, believes Donald’s assessment is wide of the mark.
"To say Jordie wouldn't be up to speed going back, I’m not sure I’d agree with that," he told RTÉ Sport.
"I think they’re different competitions, with the travel and there's different styles of play and different styles of athlete in those teams.
"It’s very hard to compare. It's not apples with apples is it?
"I think the competition [the URC] is definitely growing. It’s growing in popularity, it’s growing in competitiveness. It’s trending in a great direction."
While Barrett will return to New Zealand at the end of the season, his replacement has already been confirmed, with Rieko Ioane set to join on a similar short-term deal in December.
"I haven't really met or spoken to Rieko on a personal level but I’ve seen him play a lot of games," said the former Munster out-half. "I’ve matched up against him, the Hurricanes versus the Blues, and he’s a quality player.
"We’re really excited to get him in the environment, and it’s really cool to see guys of that quality wanting to come over and test themselves in the URC and Champions Cup and see that Leinster is a place that they can grow their game. It's going to be exciting for everyone in the building."
Saturday’s bonus-point win against Ulster leaves Leinster nine points clear at the top of the table, and with second-place Glasgow hosting third-place Bulls on Friday night, the province will seal a top-two seed at the very least with a win away to the Scarlets on Saturday.
There is also a scenario where a win in Llanelli would see them lock in first place with two games to play.
"The performance is first and foremost," said Bleyendaal. "We’re preparing for a really tough challenge. The Scarlets have proven to be tough fighters in the last few weeks, on the cusp of the play-offs.
"It’s their last home match for the year so we’re expecting a tough challenge. We’d love to get a result and the table would take care of itself, but the performance is what we’re focusing on.
"I just think this period after the Six Nations, a few things have clicked, and for whatever reason the big games we played had some good attack in them.
"It is pleasing, because you see the reward of the hard work the lads are putting in day to day. We’re seeing it from the whole squad which is also really pleasing.
"It’s not the finished product, but we’re striving to get better which is pretty admirable. Because the players are really keen to grow their game, they know they’re not at their end point yet. That’s really pleasing from a coaching point of view."
Follow a live blog on Scotland v Ireland in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday from 2.30pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch a URC double-header, Scarlets v Leinster and Ulster v Sharks, on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
