ON THIS WEEK’S The42 Rugby Weekly, we summoned the dream team: both Bernard Jackman and Andy Dunne joined our own Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey for a special mailbag edition wherein they answered The42 members’ questions about all sorts — most of them with an eye to the future for Irish rugby.

One member, Kevin McCarthy, asked who the panel believed would start at out-half for Ireland during the 2021 Six Nations, mentioning the need for Andy Farrell to begin such a transition during the summer if indeed he intends to deviate from Johnny Sexton.

Another, Ben Walsh, asked if it is in Ireland’s capabilities to deploy a second playmaker, much in the same way Sexton’s prospective international replacement Joey Carbery once operated in tandem with Sexton during the days they shared at Leinster.

On the former, the verdict from Murray, Bernard and Andy was universal: Johnny Sexton will be Ireland’s starting 10 next year.

The latter, however, is where Carbery entered the panel’s reckoning: both Murray and Bernard predict that the 24-year-old will line out at 15 for Ireland in the not-too-distant future.

You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you get your pods. But here’s a written snippet on Carberry, Sexton, and a potential axis between them:

Gavan: “Even if he [Carberry] is playing 10 for Munster, you could see him playing 15 for Ireland?”

Murray: “Yeah, absolutely. The game has changed. The All Blacks are always slightly ahead of the curve — they’ve been using that model for a long time, now. England have been getting huge success out of it.

“We were just talking before we came on air, Bernard, about how the game has changed massively: the defensive line speed, the aggression, the suffocating qualities mean that you have to have something a little bit extra.

The two of them [Sexton and Carbery] could work really well. It was late in the game but when Ross Byrne came on and Johnny Sexton was at 12 in England, it was Ireland’s best patch. I know England were mentally probably switching off and that was to their detriment — they should have gotten a bonus point. But having that decision-maker, that vision a little bit wider on the pitch — it just added another element to the attack and other centres can’t really do that; a lot of full-backs can’t really do that. They’re being pushed to do it but it’s not something that comes as intuitively to them as somebody like Johnny Sexton or Joey Carbery. I think it’d be great to see.

“You watch England, and some of their best patches against Wales the last day — it’s actually Farrell stepping into first receiver and Ford goes a bit wider. Two of the tries were decent examples of that.

“I think it’s really important for Ireland to definitely have a good, extended look at it. They’ve flirted with it in the past — I remember Jared Payne — relatively soon before he retired — went into fullback against England and it looked really good. It was an organisational thing as well because they were trying to play with a bit more width and he was able to pull people into the right positions.

“So, for me, that makes sense, to pursue that model.”

Carbery goes wide during an Ireland training session in 2018. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Gavan: “How feasible would it be, Bernard, just in light of the fact that Carbery will be playing week-in, week-out — presumably — at 10, and then you’re stepping a level to Test level and playing in a position where he can probably fill in fairly naturally, but in which he probably just won’t have the minutes outside of training?

Bernard: “Yeah, I think he’d be okay because he has that in his background already. I know Leinster felt his future was more suited to 15 than 10. But I do think it’d be good for him to be playing for Munster at 10 — being a clear playmaker for them, goal-kicking, and being back-up 10 to Sexton [at international level] and maybe eventually taking over from him at 10.

At the moment, Jordan Larmour is trying to develop that [play-making] side of his game but it’s not natural to him. And it has to be so natural. It’s such a hard role to play, particularly as defences become more aggressive. So, I do think that fellas who have experience at 10 are more naturally comfortable with it because they’re used to making decisions and they’ve got really good playmaking ability, and an understanding of how to manipulate defences. Whereas, if you’ve been in the backfield all your life, it’s not as easy.

“[Elliot] Daly can step up there a little bit for England but realistically it’s Farrell and Ford who pull the strings. I think Carbery can do it, yeah, for sure. And at the moment, the way [Mike] Catt wants to play — it was less relevant under Joe [Schmidt] — but Catt wants Ireland to play in those wide channels more regularly.

Robbie [Henshaw] and Bundee [Aki], as powerful as they are, if they come up against people as powerful, we get stuck in that middle block between the two 15s (15-metre lines), and that’s not good. I think we’re lacking there at the moment.

Murray: “Imagine the kicking capability as well — to have someone who’s that good at attacking kicking, as well as Johnny Sexton, would be beautiful to watch, I think.”

Bernard Jackman, Andy Dunne and Murray Kinsella join Gavan Casey to field your questions about Johnny Sexton’s captaincy and what the future might hold for Irish rugby

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