The versatile All Black has been impressed with the pair of young Leinster backs who have become his teammates in recent weeks, and the pair’s coaches and club and country will be hoping that his presence in Dublin will rub off on the promising duo.

Prendergast (21) is enjoying a breakout season in blue and green, having been capped three times for Ireland in November.

His form has carried into the new year and he’s in pole position to wear the No 10 shirt against England in two weeks’ time.

Osborne (22), meanwhile, has perhaps the most to learn from Barrett, who also covers a similar range of positions.

The Kildare native made his big break last year, starting the Champions Cup final at centre and the Springbok Tests at No 15 and he’s pushing hard for a start in the Six Nations opener.

“Sam is a great young player and he’s got a great skill-set. He’s very aware of his strengths and uses those strengths to his advantage,” Barrett said. “He’s still young, he’s a kid, all his best years are ahead of him.

“I think Leinster and Ireland are in great hands for a number of years. And look, he’s not going to be perfect every game.

“There’ll be things he’ll do really well and things he’ll get wrong but that’s important for a young 10, just learning through those experiences.

“You can’t become the complete package overnight.

“There’s a number of great young No 10s in Ireland and I know there’s always a search to find a replacement for Johnny [Sexton] who was unbelievable over a number of years but there’s great No 10s all around the country so that’s positive.”

Barrett has been working closely with Osborne given their similar roles, and he reckons the Kildare native is another Leinster young gun with a huge future.

“I guess it has just worked out that way,” he said. “He has come in the Irish squad playing centre, full-back and wing very similar to what I did and, look, he is a great young player and he has a great head on his shoulders too, so he has a very high ceiling.

“That kid, he is going to be good for a number of years. We all saw what he did on the weekend, he has the complete skill-set, the head, he works very hard and he is a quality player.”

Barrett has been enjoying his seven-month stint in Ireland. It’s been busy on the rugby front, but he’s been able to relive some of his childhood days too.

“I got back to Meath at Christmas which was nice, to some family friends’ places, it was really nice. Great connections from when we lived here, it was really nice,” he said, referring to the two years he spent in Ballinacree as a young boy.

“Dublin has been good. Plenty to do but rugby has been busy so it’s been nice.”

From a rugby perspective, he wants to win but equally it’s about experiencing something different to make him a better player when he goes back to New Zealand.

Barrett has played four times for his new team and done brilliantly, despite being back at full-back – where he last played in November 2022.

“I can’t just sit here and say I want that or that, and don’t want that or that,” he said.

“I’ll just learn from experience and hopefully I can sit back when it’s a year on when I go back to New Zealand and apply certain things to my game or my preparation that are going to help me and make me a better player and person. The pillars of Leinster rugby have been standing for a long time before I’ve arrived.

“I’ve just understood that it’s a short time but hopefully seven-and-a-half months which is a long time and I’m just trying to enjoy every single week, lean on other players and coaches, try to grow my game and not to try and force or change things too much.

“Just get the best things out of this environment that I can so it puts me in the best stead going forward.

“It’s different jumping from different competitions from week to week and again when we lose some of our Six Nations players, so in that sense it is quite different when you prepare for all sorts of different opposition in different countries and different styles and ways of thinking.

“It has been great, it’s been a good challenge. There hasn’t been any easy rugby at all so I have enjoyed it.

“It’s just learning through playing and different conditions, different referees, away games in France on the weekend, different environments you’re exposed to, so those experiences and trying to harness myself and put me in good stead going forward.”

It’s looking like a mutually beneficial arrangement.