Jordie Barrett: All Black could make Leinster bow against Bristol

Leinster boss Leo Cullen says the province want “to make sure” they set up All Black Jordie Barrett to succeed during his short stay in Dublin.

The utility back arrived at the RDS this week and acted as water carrier for his new team-mates as they beat Ulster 27-20 in Belfast on Friday night to make it seven wins from seven games in the United Rugby Championship this season.

The 27-year-old, who is on a deal that runs until the end of the season, picked up a slight knock on international duty this month but Cullen said he looks “OK” as Leinster turn their attention to their Champions Cup opener away to Bristol on December 8.

“Jordie only arrived in on Wednesday. So he had a knock and he came off in the French game so he looks like he is OK,” said Cullen.

“We will try to get him up and running through training first and make some calls as to when he starts.

“It’s unusual that you have a player coming in halfway through the season, so we want to make sure we set him up as well as possible to help him succeed. We will go about that process over the next while.”

Having been bulk suppliers to Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad through four November Tests, Cullen is looking forward to getting other key men back too.

“We are lucky in that these are guys that have been playing at the top end of the game,” he added.

“We will watch [Saturday’s Ireland versus Australia] game with great interest to see how everybody comes through.

“The international guys, they are coming back in next week as well, but we will try to keep them fresh to have them firing in the new year.”