LAST UPDATE | 17 Feb 2021

THE DEBATE ABOUT Ireland’s out-half conundrum continues to rumble along. Choose your fighter. Yesterday it was Brian O’Driscoll’s turn, the former Ireland captain telling Off the Ball that he believes the time has come to give Jack Carty another shot.

The Connacht man certainly has admirers in high places, just perhaps not in the rights ones.

While Billy Burns and Ross Byrne have struggled to make the most of their chances under Andy Farrell, Carty has been left on the outside looking in, his last cap coming under Joe Schmidt at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Carty came back from Japan as damaged goods, perhaps shouldering more of the blame than he should have from that shock group stage defeat to the hosts. Yet over the last few months the Carty of old has started to emerge, most notably in Connacht’s superb win over Leinster and their Champions Cup loss at Racing.

The big black mark against his name, though, is consistency. A week after pulling the strings so brilliantly against Leinster, Carty was more subdued in a home defeat to Munster. 

The best players back up their big performances, and that is what Farrell wants to see. He’ll be keeping a close eye on the provinces this weekend ahead of Ireland’s Six Nations meeting with Italy on 27 February.

For Carty, it means another chance to catch the eye when Connacht host Cardiff Blues on Saturday.

“We have regular chats. I’m aware of his frustration,” said Connacht head coach Andy Friend, speaking during yesterday’s online press conference. 

“At the same time, I’m aware, as he is aware, that he needs to bring more consistency to his game, and that’s been the message that has been delivered to him. So he’s pragmatic about that, he still has ambitions to play for his country.

“I think he’s in a real purple patch at the moment. We’re starting to see the Jack Carty that in my first year here, I just thought he was brilliant, which led to that Irish selection and then a World Cup.

“I love seeing that bloke when he’s full of confidence. At the moment he looks like he is full of confidence. And all we can do is work with him on our game plan and making sure he has got clarity on what he is doing, give him the support to say: ‘You are the man out there, go and do your stuff Jack’

“We’re seeing that at the moment, and if he keeps that up, I believe the Irish team will have to come knocking for him.” 

The variation in Carty’s attacking game is something which would appeal to a lot of Ireland supporters based on recent viewings of Farrell’s team. Friend certainly isn’t shy to talk up the strengths of his game.

“He’s a really talented player, we all see that,” Friend continued.

“I think his ability off the boot is one of the best I’ve ever seen. He’s got a brilliant long kicking game, he’s actually got lovely little, what we call putters, the grubbers that go through, his kicks for touch are fantastic. We’ve been talking about introducing in his kicking repertoire a bomb, a high punt, for him, which I think would really add to it.

“But his ability to see space and put the ball there is probably the best I’ve seen in all honesty. And then the next part of it is his sense around the game when he is on song. Now it’s easy to say when he is song, but when the confidence is up, and the confidence is up now, Jack just sees space and he has an amazing capacity to be able to manage the game and put the opposition on the back foot and keep us on the front foot. 

“So that’s what he offers, and I reckon the key for us as coaches is to create an environment where he is allowed to go out and be that bloke. That’s what we’re trying to do here at Connacht, and if we can get that consistently in his game, I’m sure the Irish team will be looking at him.” 

In terms of the 2019 World Cup, Friend believes Carty is long over any personal disappointment. 

“He’s parked that. 100%. And I think you are seeing that now with the run of form that he is in. He works really, really hard on that performance skills, or mental skills part of the game, he’s been working with Jack Birtwhistle, performance skills coach here, and I’m just seeing real growth in the bloke. 

Carty does some skills work with tennis balls during a recent Connacht training session. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

“At the age of 28 he’s got a lot of growing left in him. He knows that, we know that, but that’s the exciting part of Jack Carty. I’ve think we’ve all seen glimpses of the brilliance of Jack Carty, and when he gets that on a consistent basis, he’ll be a very hard man to not select.”

One man who won’t be in the mix for selection for either club or country is Quinn Roux, who is expected to be out until May as a result of surgery to remedy a long-standing shoulder issue. 

“It’s definitely a blow for Connacht, and I think it’s a blow for Ireland too. I think he’s been playing some great rugby there as well,” Friend said.

“It is a shame, but we saw the first cap for Oisín Dowling against the Dragons and I thought he was very good. Young Niall Murray, he’s a quality young player that is coming through. Gavin Thornbury. So we do have some depth there, it’s nice having Ultan (Dillane) back this week. But yeah, it’s very hard to replace a Quinn Roux.”