LEINSTER ASSISTANT COACH Tyler Bleyendaal is excited by the prospect of working alongside All Blacks star Rieko Ioane.

While his time as a player in his native land preceded the emergence of the Auckland native on the professional scene, Bleyendaal was part of the Hurricanes coaching staff from 2020 to 2024. In that time, he helped prepare the Wellington men for a number of Super Rugby battles against a Blues side that was largely spearheaded by Ioane.

Jordie Barrett – who Bleyendaal coached at the Hurricanes – is currently on a short-term deal with Leinster after opting to exercise a sabbatical clause in his contract with New Zealand Rugby and Ioane is now set to join the eastern province under the same circumstances at the end of this year. After seeing the impact Barrett has made since his arrival on these shores, Bleyendaal is confident his fellow All Black can leave a similar impression on Leinster.

“Looking forward to it. A top quality player, he has 80 odd Tests. The exciting thing is that he is looking to challenge himself. I think he is looking forward to getting into the URC and Champions Cup. Playing in those games and those competitions for Leinster to develop his game,” Bleyendaal said.

“He is looking to add to our environment, but I think he will also look to grow his game, which is exciting. I have coached against him, he is a challenging player to coach against. He has a good skill set, a pretty smooth runner. He is also quite a big build as well. A big, tall, strong athlete. It is exciting to have him.”

Whereas there might have been a consensus that the signing of an active New Zealand international like Barrett would prove to be a once-off for the province, last week’s announcement that Ioane was to join forces with Leinster upon the completion of the All Blacks’ November Test programme has changed that.

It remains to be seen if others will follow in the footsteps of Barrett and Ioane, but Bleyendaal acknowledged it does reflect well on Leinster as an organisation that experienced New Zealand stars are choosing to play their rugby over here – even if it is ultimately a temporary arrangement on their parts.

“There is a quality of player, the club itself has proven that it has good staff. Not just coaching staff specifically, but they are going to get well supported, the player. They are going to play in competitions that challenge them and provide variety.

“Top quality players want to grow all the time. You must have different experiences to do that. I think Leinster is a great place for that and I think that is why we have seen the quality of Jordie and Rieko committing to come here.”

By the time Ioane does link up with the squad, Leinster will hope to have made amends for a three-year barren spell that has seen them falling short at the business end of both the United Rugby Championship and the European Champions Cup.

A record of 20 wins from 21 games across both competitions this term suggests they are in rude health at the moment, but Leo Cullen’s side will ultimately be judged on how they perform between now and the end of the 2024/25 season.

Yet with a Round 16 URC bout coming up this Saturday against Scarlets in Llanelli – seven days before the Irish province welcome Northampton Saints to the Aviva Stadium for a Champions Cup semi-final – Bleyendaal stressed the Leinster players aren’t feeling the weight of expectation on their shoulders.

“It is not tense in the building. We are excited to play the Scarlets this week. We expect it to be a big challenge and we understand that there is a big Champions Cup game after that. There haven’t been any ghosts from the past directing how people behave or feel. It is all very positive, but not fake positive,” Bleyendaal added.

“We are just excited for the challenge this week. We understand that we are building for a play-off match, which we are excited to give a good crack. I don’t think we will be held back by anything that’s happened in the last few seasons.”

Daire Walsh