LAST UPDATE | 7 Jan 2020
IT’S NOT DIFFICULT to imagine Joey Carbery’s reaction when he was informed that he is facing into yet another extended period on the sidelines.
Cruel barely covers his run of injuries.
The 24-year-old’s latest issue is a wrist ligament injury suffered in last Friday’s defeat to Ulster and The42 understands it is likely to keep him sidelined for around three months following surgery.
That would mean Carbery missing the entire Six Nations with Ireland, having featured just twice off the bench in last year’s championship.
The Athy man had only just returned in recent weeks from the ankle injury he suffered back in August, which greatly limited his impact at the World Cup in Japan as Carbery did his best to play through the pain.
Carbery had major hamstring issues last season, ending his Six Nations and ensuring he missed most of the second half of Munster’s 2018/19 campaign. Jump back to November 2017 and Carbery had the misfortune of suffering a broken arm playing for Ireland against Fiji. In short, he’s been through the wringer.
Across the course of 2019, Carbery managed to complete the full 80 minutes of games twice – both times for Munster – and racked up only 518 minutes of game time in total for province and country. Simply put, we have not seen him on the pitch for an extended period of time and now his 2019 has been halted after just 104 minutes of playing.
Every Munster and Ireland fan will be feeling for Carbery, but both teams have to move swiftly on without the playmaker for now.
The setback for Munster is, of course, most pressing as they face into Sunday’s make-or-break Heineken Champions Cup visit to Paris to face Racing 92. Johann van Graan’s side are under intense pressure to win in order to keep their European hopes alive and an out-half injury crisis is far from ideal.
Tyler Bleyendaal is currently sidelined indefinitely with a worrying neck issue, while their other front-line out-half, JJ Hanrahan, missed last weekend’s clash against Ulster with a hamstring injury.
While Munster said yesterday that Hanrahan is “rehabbing well,” the Kerryman has had previous hamstring issues this season so his fitness is a concern. With Hanrahan having been in good form, van Graan must be praying that the 27-year-old is fit for this weekend.
Otherwise, it seems likely that midfielder Rory Scannell would step into the number 10 shirt for Munster at Paris La Défense Arena. While 20-year-old academy out-half Ben Healy is also registered for Europe, he has played just once at senior level for Munster.
There is little doubt that the Tipperary playmaker is talented and he has been part of the extended senior squad for recent games, travelling with the matchday 23, but van Graan may now be regretting not giving him more exposure on the pitch. Leaping straight into the starting XV for Munster’s biggest game of the season would be a major ask, even if one suspects that Healy would relish such an opportunity.
Scannell is a consistent performer for Munster and although he is usually at inside centre, he has played at out-half for his province and regularly starred as a 10 during his school days with PBC.
Nonetheless, van Graan and Munster will be holding out hope that Hanrahan is fit to start.
As for Andy Farrell and Ireland, Carbery’s expected absence for the entirety of the Six Nations is a real frustration. Although we don’t yet know exactly how Farrell views Carbery – previous boss Joe Schmidt clearly saw him as second-in-line behind Johnny Sexton – this latest injury deprives Ireland of 22-cap international.
Carbery would have been the most experienced out-half behind Sexton if available for the upcoming Six Nations.
The42 understands that Sexton is on course to be fit to face Scotland in Ireland’s opener in Dublin on 1 February, although he is set to miss Leinster’s next two games in Europe, meaning he won’t have played for a full eight weeks by the time they clash with the Scots.
However, the 34-year-old has shown in the past that he has an ability to rapidly get back up to speed post-injury. The shame is that Sexton was flying with Leinster in the wake of the World Cup and looked like bringing fresh momentum into the Six Nations.
He remains a prime candidate to captain Ireland in this championship and very much wants the job, having made a pointed effort to positively deal with referees in his three games with Leinster in November and December.
Sexton’s Leinster team-mate, Ross Byrne, now looks like the next-in-line in Ireland’s out-half pecking order, with his own excellent form since the disappointment of missing out on World Cup selection having surely impressed Farrell and his coaching staff.
Byrne looks like more of a leader than ever, embracing a dominant and demanding role in the Leinster team whenever he has played, as well as looking sharper athletically on top of his usual strengths of kicking and game management.
Connacht man Jack Carty, who beat Byrne to the third World Cup spot at out-half, has seen his form dip since the World Cup, with Connacht head coach Andy Friend preferring the less experienced Conor Fitzgerald in the province’s 10 shirt at times.
Indeed, Carty missed out on last month’s 45-player ‘stocktake’ with Ireland, with Ulster’s in-form Billy Burns coming into the group instead.
The uncapped Burns, who qualifies for Ireland through his Cork-born grandfather, is looking confident in his second season with Ulster, growing as a presence and adding more assurance to his longstanding strengths such as attacking kicking.
The 25-year-old certainly still has real scope for improvement but Byrne’s experience in the Ireland set-up and his three Test caps, as well as his own form, mean Burns has more ground to make up.
Byrne’s most recent Ireland cap against England back in August – his first start for Ireland – was an unhappy one as Schmidt’s side were hammered 57-15 at Twickenham in a World Cup warm-up.
But that entire summer was a frustrating one for the Leinster man, who felt on the periphery of the group and craved more of the kind of detailed communication and feedback that players like him thrive on.
While Ireland will be keen to see Sexton fit in time for the Scotland clash, the confident Byrne will hope that the new Farrell era sees him given the kind of opportunities he so desires.
As for Carbery, he must watch on as he begins the lonely process of overcoming injury again.
- First published today at 11.34
