Submitted by admin on Fri, 2005-10-07 01:00. ::
The first is obvious, with All Black Rico Gear donning the blue jersey for the first time last weekend. But the second qualifies as a genuine Trivial Pursuit head scratcher.
Now Barton would be the first to dismiss any pretentions to an international rugby career. But in finishing second to the Bahamas, and thereby missing out on the next stage of World Cup qualifying, Barton has indeed tested the waters of international rugby.
As a qualified commerical and corporate lawyer, Barton spent most of the past four years working in the exotic Caribbean location before heading to Nelson at the start of this season where he linked up with Stoke in the Nelson Bays club competition.
He admits that even the local club scene was a step up from anything he encountered in the Cayman Islands. But that was just the start of what has turned out to be a remarkable season for the 31-year-old 2.02m, 107kg lock.
Happy biding his time in the Stoke pack and with a game for the Nelson Bays Development team under his belt, Barton received a shock call-up for the NPC team on the eve of its departure for Napier to face Hawke's Bay in the season opener.
With initial lock selection Tere Wycliff ruled out through injury, Barton was a surprise 11th hour selection for arguably the toughest assignment of the second division season. And although he represented Otago at both colts and representative B level many years ago, Barton suddenly had to get his head around facing an angry Hawke's Bay side dead set on atoning for last year's NPC final loss to Nelson Bays.
"The first 10 minutes was quite a shock with the step up in the pace and intensity and just the physical side of it," recalled Barton of his NPC debut.
"But I wanted to do my best. When you get called up at the last minute like that, you just want to make sure that you pull your weight and don't let the guys down."
While it took him a couple of games to settle into the team patterns and the more intense atmosphere of NPC rugby, Barton has quickly become one of the team's key lineout exponents.
Team rotational policies saw him miss last week's win over Poverty Bay in Gisborne. But he's back for Saturday's away clash against Wanganui when he'll partner Stu Smith in the middle row.
"But I think it's important that we obviously win because that's always good for your confidence going into playoffs, but also to do the things that we want to do to build that confidence."
"I think we're definitely confident that we can win (in Pukekohe). It was there for us to win last time and we just got a bit lost, I think, in that second half. We'll be going out there thinking that we can win, for sure."
"I've loved every minute of it. I was just thrilled to get the late call up when I didn't really expect it and it's been great to stay there.
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