Berrick Steven Barnes (born 28 May 1986) is a former Australian professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer. His usual position is

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

inside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

. He is currently signed with Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

club

Panasonic Wild Knights Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the l ...

, but previously played in the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition with the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state ...

and

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competition ...

. He also played for the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

in international matches.

Early life

Barnes was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

but raised in

Kingaroy Kingaroy is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the junction of the D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highways, north-west of the state capital Brisbane and south west of Gympie. As a ...

, a town in country

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. He attended Kingaroy State School and played junior

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

for the Kingaroy Red Ants. He also played men's A-grade cricket at 12 years of age. In 1999, Barnes took up a scholarship to attend School. He switched to playing rugby union and was selected in representative rugby teams including the Queensland U-16s. Barnes continued playing rugby league as well, and was picked for

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

development camps. Barnes was a star wicketkeeper-batsman in junior

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and was also good enough to win state championship medals in

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. His sports master at Ipswich, Nigel Greive, described Berrick Barnes as "the most talented all-rounder I've ever been associated with". By his final year at Ipswich in 2003, Barnes had played in the school's First XI cricket team for five years, and in the First XV rugby union team for four years. Barnes began his professional sporting career straight out of school. He was scouted by the

and

Queensland Bulls The Queensland cricket team or the Queensland Bulls is the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket side in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments: *Sheffield Shield: four-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926–27 sea ...

, but decided to join the Broncos.

Rugby league

When Barnes started at the Brisbane Broncos in 2004, he played in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

competition for the Broncos' feeder club,

Toowoomba Clydesdales The Toowoomba Clydesdales are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The Clydesdales originally played in the Queensland Cup from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, and were the feeder club for the ...

. He played mainly in the or positions. Kangaroos Coach John Dixon praised Barnes for his performances in the Queensland Cup, leading to his selection in 2004 for a Kangaroos Invitational XIII against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

and for the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

against the PNG Junior Kumuls in

Lae Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...

. His playing position was for both matches. Barnes also played for Queensland U-19 against NSW U-19 in curtain-raiser matches to

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

in 2004 and 2005. Barnes made his

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

debut for Brisbane in 2005 at the age of 18, coming off the bench in round 8 against the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. He went on to make 9 NRL appearances for the Broncos, scoring one try. However, shortly after his first run-on start with the Broncos, Barnes signed a two-year-deal with the

to switch codes and play rugby union.

Rugby union

Super Rugby career

Barnes played for the

from 2006 to 2009. He made 45 appearances and scored 105 points, including 6 tries, for the Reds in Super Rugby. In 2009 he was captain of the Reds side for the first half of the season while

James Horwill James Horwill (born 29 May 1985) is an Australian former rugby union player, who has played for the Australian national side, with 61 caps to his name. He captained the Wallabies a number of times, including during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Hor ...

recovered from injury. In 2010 Barnes joined the

, and later signed on until the end of 2013. He made 43 appearances, and scored 194 points including 4 tries for the Waratahs in Super Rugby. In 2011, he suffered from "Footballer's Migraine" and took three months off from the game, from June 2011. Barnes retired from rugby in April 2020.

International career

Barnes made his international debut aged 21 in Australia's first pool match of the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. After only three minutes on the field, and with his first touch of the ball, Barnes scored his first Test try. He scored again, five minutes from the end of the game, which Australia won 91–3. After the match, in which he excelled, he said:

The crowd was unbelievable. It felt like a
Boxing Day Test The Boxing Day Test match is a cricket Test match held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, involving the Australian cricket team and an opposing national team that is touring Australia during the southern summer. It begins annually on Boxing ...
. Standing in that tunnel, I've never heard a roar like it. Standing next to the Japanese as we waited to walk out was pretty special. I was giving a few 'yahoos'. The boys gave me a bit about that. I was pumped. I wasn't going to hold it in.

The following week, for Australia's next World Cup match against at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

, Barnes was originally selected as a replacement.

Stephen Larkham Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of head coach for Brumbies. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the pro ...

injured his knee, however, and Barnes was told on the morning of the game that he would be the starting fly-half. He played the full match and made a significant contribution to Australia's 32–20 victory, setting up a try for

Matt Giteau Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982) is an Australian rugby union professional player who is playing with the LA Giltinis of Major League Rugby (MLR). Giteau joined the Giltinis after a short playing stint with the Gungahlin Eagles in ...

and then scoring a

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

from 32 metres. He added another drop goal in Australia's next pool game, a 55–12 win over Fiji that assured Australia a place in the quarter-finals. Barnes was rested for the final pool game but returned to the starting line-up for the quarter-final match against England in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, where Australia exited the tournament. By 2008, Barnes had become a key member for the Wallabies. He scored the first try of the

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans h ...

era as coach of the Wallabies, against Ireland in Melbourne. A shoulder injury in the historical victory over the Springboks in the Tri-Nations disrupted his season, but he was selected for the 2008 Spring Tour. Unfortunately, in the first 8 minutes in the game against Italy he tore a posterior cruciate ligament in his knee and was sent home. The following year, Barnes was named vice-captain of the Wallabies for the 2009 Spring Tour but was sent home after he rolled his ankle at a training session in Tokyo, Japan and sustained a

syndesmosis In anatomy, fibrous joints are joints connected by fibrous tissue, consisting mainly of collagen. These are fixed joints where bones are united by a layer of white fibrous tissue of varying thickness. In the skull the joints between the bones are ...

injury. In 2010, Barnes missed selection for the first Test of the season against Fiji but played in the next match against England. He then went on to play the entire Tri Nations series, either starting or on the bench. Barnes was named co-captain of the

Australian Barbarians The Australian Barbarians, nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team which has been a major part of Australian rugby since the team was founded in 1957. The club is based in Australia. The idea came from the concept of the B ...

side against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that played in Perth and Gosford. He captained the mid-week Wallabies team on the 2010 Spring Tour for the matches against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

, where his standout performance on that tour was against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

where he scored 22 points in that game. Barnes handled the goal-kicking in Florence, in the absence of James O’Connor, kicking eight goals from nine attempts as he showed the benefits of his work with the Wallabies' South African kicking consultant, ex Springbok

Braam van Straaten Abraham Johannes Jacobus "Braam" van Straaten (born 28 September 1971) is a former South African rugby union footballer. He was capable of playing either at fly-half or centre, and represented the Springboks in 21 tests from 1999 to 2001, scoring ...

. In the final Test of the 2010 Spring Tour, Barnes, playing at inside centre, linked with fly-half

Quade Cooper Quade Santini Cooper (born 5 April 1988) is a professional rugby union player and occasional boxer. Although born in New Zealand, he has represented Australia in rugby at international level. He currently plays for Hanazono Liners in Japan, ...

to help orchestrate a spectacular 59-16 demolition of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, in Paris. Barnes made five appearances at the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

, which included the final 28 minutes of the quarter-final against South Africa, and the last 45 minutes of the semi-final against New Zealand; in both instances coming on at inside centre in the place of Pat McCabe. He stepped into the fly-half role after Quade Cooper was injured 21 minutes into Australia's Bronze medal playoff against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and steered Australia astutely to a 21–18 win.

References

External links

*
ESPN Rugby prfile - Berrick Barnes
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Berrick 1986 births Living people Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Brisbane Broncos players New South Wales Waratahs players People from Kingaroy Queensland Reds players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Toowoomba Clydesdales players Saitama Wild Knights players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Australian expatriate rugby union players Rugby league players from Brisbane Rugby union players from Brisbane