Saturday 2 August 2014

New American back row talent Danny Barrett

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USA back rower Danny Barrett showed a just an early glimpse of his raw talent in his first international tests last June.

One of the bright spots of USA's June campaign was the impressive impact made by young back rower Danny Barrett. The 24 year old sprung to attention last year when he powered his way over for a 50 metre try playing in the Americas Rugby Championship playing in A team game, and then became a professional in the 7's squad in January.
Barrett, who started playing the sport aged 14 when watching his brothers high school team one of their players got injured and he was called upon as an extra body to step up for the last 10 minutes, has obvious talents. He possesses size, power and pace and like his former San Francisco Golden Gate teammate Samu Manoa a fan friendly player stylistically with clips of huge hand offs and bone rattling big hits already on YouTube.

The back row is probably the USA's strongest position in terms of depth, but with a Clever, LaValla and Dolan back row seemingly set as first choice, when Barrett got his chance he put forward his own credentials well in June. First with a good run in a brief cameo against Scotland, then a decent first start against Japan including a try assist but his best performance came from number 8 against Canada where his big runs and big defence played a big part in the win.

Whether he can make the USA back as first choice remains to be seen, but what is certain is that he's an impressive talent for the coaches to work with. If he can keep up form and keep improving in November, he could potentially get on the radar of some clubs in Europe.

(Video: Danny Barrett performance vs Canada in June)

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