ANDY FARRELL HAS had a look at quite a few out-half options during his time as Ireland head coach.
The Irish number 10 depth chart has been a little like a game of musical chairs.
But some of the guys who have been knocked out of the game have managed to earn a reprieve.
Joey Carbery might be hoping he fits that bill when he returns to Ireland this summer.
The 30-year-old, who last played for Ireland in November 2022, is set to join Leinster ahead of next season, ending a two-year spell with Bordeaux and re-joining his home province.
It’s unclear whether Andy Farrell views Carbery as a contender to return to the Ireland set-up after a lengthy hiatus immediately, but the IRFU is evidently pleased to have the experienced playmaker back in Irish rugby for starters. Ulster had been hoping to entice Carbery to Belfast, but he is close to finalising a deal with Leinster.
Carbery and his young family are thought to be keen to be as close to their relatives as possible and he obviously has a very strong connection with Leinster, whereas he has no real link to Ulster.
Carbery’s return to Ireland is a reminder of how the pecking order in Ireland’s out-half depth chart has been rather tumultuous in the Farrell era.
Carbery missed the start of Farrell’s reign in the 2020 Six Nations due to a wrist injury, with Billy Burns and Ross Byrne picked as out-halves along with new captain Johnny Sexton.
Byrne was initially the backup to Sexton but then-Ulster out-half Burns pushed ahead by the following year, starting a big game against France in the 2021 Six Nations when Sexton was sidelined and Carbery was again coming back from injury.
Burns, who is now playing for Japanese second division club Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks, featured for Ireland for what would be the last time in the summer of 2021, coming off the bench against Japan in Dublin. A move to Munster in 2024 failed to reignite Burns’ Ireland career and the 31-year-old left these shores last summer.
Byrne, meanwhile, was essentially jettisoned twice. Having played twice off the bench in the 2021 Six Nations, he was left out in the cold for 20 months before a succession of injuries resulted in his call-up during the November 2022 Tests.
Ross Byrne helped Ireland to a Grand Slam in 2023. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Sexton was injured during the warm-up to a clash with Australia, Byrne was called onto the bench, and he ended up landing a brilliant game-winning penalty from distance and on a tough angle.
And so, his international career was suddenly back up and running. Byrne jumped back to second in the pecking order behind Sexton and played in all five Six Nations games in 2023 as Ireland won the Grand Slam.
Carbery was actually fit for that Six Nations, but he was the one Farrell decided to leave out at that stage.
Carbery had been fit for the championship in 2022, making two starts when Sexton was injured and coming off the bench in the other three games. He was also a replacement in all three Tests against New Zealand when Ireland won the series there that summer. But Farrell didn’t like what he saw from Carbery in November 2022, when he got injured after starting against Fiji.
He hasn’t played for Ireland since. There was a very brief recall during the 2023 Six Nations, but only as injury cover.
Let’s not forget Jack Carty, the Connacht out-half who had been Sexton’s back-up at the 2019 World Cup, starting the infamous pool-stage defeat to Japan when the main man was rested by Joe Schmidt.
Carty actually began that game superbly, but he seemed to pay a heavy price for the collective failings thereafter. His only involvement in the Farrell era was as part of the 2022 Six Nations, when he got a couple of minutes off the bench against France.
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Stick with us, because we’re only getting to the next generation.
Harry Byrne got his Ireland debut against the US in the summer of 2021 and word from within camp was that Farrell and co. were very excited about his potential.
He got his second cap that autumn against Argentina but as he had to fight for his place in Leinster and deal with injuries, Byrne fell out of the Ireland picture and had to wait more than two years to win another cap, although he was due to feature for the midweek team in New Zealand on the 2022 tour only to be ruled out at a late stage with injury.
Byrne came off the bench twice in the 2024 Six Nations at a time when he was flying with Leinster, yet that provincial campaign tailed off for him. Byrne had the option of going on loan to Connacht for the 2024/25 season but backed himself to stay in Leinster, only to eventually take a loan spell in Bristol in the second half of the campaign.
Harry Byrne made his Ireland debut in 2021. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Byrne did well in England and that has helped to reignite his career, particularly as older brother Ross had decided to leave Leinster for Gloucester by the time Harry got back.
And so it is that 26-year-old Harry has found himself starting some big games for Leinster this season and finding himself name-checked by Ireland boss Farrell several times in November despite not being in the squad. Byrne did impress for the Ireland XV against Spain and he is clearly back in Farrell’s thoughts.
Munster’s Jack Crowley was the next ‘next big thing’ on the scene after Harry Byrne, impressing with his province and Emerging Ireland, leading to his senior Ireland debut in November 2022.
He was third-in-line behind Sexton and Ross Byrne in the 2023 Six Nations but jumped to second in the pecking order for the 2023 World Cup. 30-year-old Byrne hasn’t played for Ireland since that tournament and headed off to Gloucester last summer, having also fallen down Leinster’s pecking order.
When Sexton retired after the 2023 World Cup, Crowley stepped up to help Ireland to the 2024 Six Nations title and looked like being the main man for a long time to come.
Yet new competitors for the throne were emerging.
When Harry Byrne was injured, the versatile Ciarán Frawley stepped up as Ireland’s midweek out-half against the Māori All Blacks on the 2022 tour of New Zealand. He impressed Farrell and everyone else on that trip.
He got his senior Ireland debut against Italy in a warm-up game before the 2023 World Cup but didn’t make the final squad. Frawley returned to the group for the 2024 Six Nations, making two replacement appearances and enjoying a first start at fullback.
Yet it was the 2024 tour of South Africa where Frawley took what appeared to be a huge leap in green. He came off the bench for Crowley in both Tests and landed two brilliant late drop-goals in the second Springboks clash to send Ireland to victory in Durban.
That meant Frawley was seen as a major contender for the number 10 shirt coming into the 2024 November internationals, but it didn’t work out that way.
The Skerries man came off the bench against New Zealand that autumn but made a handful of errors and has not featured much for Ireland since, making just two replacement appearances against Fiji and Portugal even while still being in squads.
Ciarán Frawley watches his winning drop kick in 2024. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
But that’s also because another figure was ready to join the party in November 2024.
22-year-old Sam Prendergast, who had toured with Ireland the summer before without being capped, still hadn’t started a Champions Cup game for Leinster and wasn’t clearly ahead of Ross Byrne and Frawley for the province.
Prendergast also had the chance to go to Connacht on loan for the 2024/25 season but turned it down, backing himself to become Leinster’s leading man. That decision worked out very well for him.
Farrell liked what he saw and Prendergast not only jumped ahead of Frawley for Ireland that autumn but also usurped Crowley, who moved into the back-up role at the end of that campaign and on into the 2025 Six Nations.
Crowley did start the last game of the championship against Italy and was then picked at number 10 for the start of the 2025 November Tests against New Zealand in Chicago, but Prendergast was back in the starting XV for the final two matches against Australia and South Africa.
And so, we find ourselves in the present day.
Crowley is the main man in Munster, Prendergast is first-choice in Leinster, but Harry Byrne is putting pressure on. 33-year-old Carty is still with Connacht but well out of the Ireland picture. Burns plays in Japan and Ross Byrne has moved to England.
Frawley is enjoying a strong season with Leinster, albeit initially at inside centre and now at fullback. He turned down a new contract offer and has decided to join Stuart Lancaster’s Connacht next season to play more first-team rugby at out-half.
Frawley turned 28 last month and has basically never had a run of games in the number 10 shirt in order to show what he can do.
Ulster’s first-choice out-half is 21-year-old Jack Murphy, who has been impressing despite his youth. Murphy has played for the Ireland U20s and Emerging Ireland, while he was on the bench for Ireland XV behind Harry Byrne in November, but he has yet to feature for Farrell’s senior group.
The northern province had hoped to bring in Carbery next season to provide a more experienced option at out-half to complement, mentor, and compete with Murphy, but Leinster swooped in to scupper the possibility.
With Frawley opting to head west, Leo Cullen and co. decided to make a bid to bring Carbery home and the deal is believed to be as good as done.
Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast in November. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Carbery will return after two seasons with Bordeaux, one of the best and most exciting clubs in the game. He was the back-up out-half to Matthieu Jalibert and also had a couple of starts at fullback last season.
The Irishman hasn’t been a sensation in the Top 14, but he has gone about his business in fine fashion, providing a steady hand in the number 10 shirt when called upon. He has always been a classy player.
Happily, Carbery showed durability last season despite the physicality of the French league. His 25 appearances in that campaign were the second-most of his career, second only to 26 appearances for Ireland and Leinster in his breakout 2016/17 season.
He’s had three starts at out-half this season in the Top 14 and will be on the bench behind the in-form Jalibert for tomorrow’s eagerly anticipated clash with Northampton at the always-lively Stade Chaban Delmas.
Bordeaux is a wonderful city and UBB is a slick, modern club where they play thrilling rugby. Carbery has been working closely with highly-regarded Irish attack coach Noel McNamara there, but he has undoubtedly learned lots about the French way and he will bring a fresh perspective back to Ireland.
Living abroad can be a life-changing experience and there’s no doubt that Carbery will have learned lots about himself.
One of the reasons Carbery was glad to get away from Irish rugby was that it had become such a suffocating, toxic place for him. He felt that the media put him on a pedestal when he was good, but then looked to tear him down when things weren’t going so well.
It will be fascinating to see how the next chapter of his career unfolds as he goes back to where it all started. Carbery has always wanted to be the main man at number 10. It’s one of the reasons he went along with the IRFU’s strong suggestion that he leave Leinster for Munster in the first place in 2018.
And having gained plenty of experience, good and bad, along the way since, Carbery will likely be heading back to Leinster believing that he can push ahead of the players who currently occupy the top spots in the province’s out-half pecking order.
He now comes back onto Farrell’s radar too, and it will be intriguing to see how interested the Ireland boss is, having rather ruthlessly jettisoned him after the 2022 autumn internationals.
Back in 2021, Farrell was wondering if Carbery could “take the bull by the horns and lead like a 10 should” and he didn’t seem to fully convince the Ireland head coach that he could the first time around.
Yet Ireland don’t appear to have had a completely settled picture at out-half since.
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Carbery returns as Ireland's game of musical chairs at 10 continues
ANDY FARRELL HAS had a look at quite a few out-half options during his time as Ireland head coach.
The Irish number 10 depth chart has been a little like a game of musical chairs.
But some of the guys who have been knocked out of the game have managed to earn a reprieve.
Joey Carbery might be hoping he fits that bill when he returns to Ireland this summer.
The 30-year-old, who last played for Ireland in November 2022, is set to join Leinster ahead of next season, ending a two-year spell with Bordeaux and re-joining his home province.
It’s unclear whether Andy Farrell views Carbery as a contender to return to the Ireland set-up after a lengthy hiatus immediately, but the IRFU is evidently pleased to have the experienced playmaker back in Irish rugby for starters. Ulster had been hoping to entice Carbery to Belfast, but he is close to finalising a deal with Leinster.
Carbery and his young family are thought to be keen to be as close to their relatives as possible and he obviously has a very strong connection with Leinster, whereas he has no real link to Ulster.
Carbery’s return to Ireland is a reminder of how the pecking order in Ireland’s out-half depth chart has been rather tumultuous in the Farrell era.
Carbery missed the start of Farrell’s reign in the 2020 Six Nations due to a wrist injury, with Billy Burns and Ross Byrne picked as out-halves along with new captain Johnny Sexton.
Byrne was initially the backup to Sexton but then-Ulster out-half Burns pushed ahead by the following year, starting a big game against France in the 2021 Six Nations when Sexton was sidelined and Carbery was again coming back from injury.
Burns, who is now playing for Japanese second division club Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks, featured for Ireland for what would be the last time in the summer of 2021, coming off the bench against Japan in Dublin. A move to Munster in 2024 failed to reignite Burns’ Ireland career and the 31-year-old left these shores last summer.
Byrne, meanwhile, was essentially jettisoned twice. Having played twice off the bench in the 2021 Six Nations, he was left out in the cold for 20 months before a succession of injuries resulted in his call-up during the November 2022 Tests.
Sexton was injured during the warm-up to a clash with Australia, Byrne was called onto the bench, and he ended up landing a brilliant game-winning penalty from distance and on a tough angle.
And so, his international career was suddenly back up and running. Byrne jumped back to second in the pecking order behind Sexton and played in all five Six Nations games in 2023 as Ireland won the Grand Slam.
Carbery was actually fit for that Six Nations, but he was the one Farrell decided to leave out at that stage.
Carbery had been fit for the championship in 2022, making two starts when Sexton was injured and coming off the bench in the other three games. He was also a replacement in all three Tests against New Zealand when Ireland won the series there that summer. But Farrell didn’t like what he saw from Carbery in November 2022, when he got injured after starting against Fiji.
He hasn’t played for Ireland since. There was a very brief recall during the 2023 Six Nations, but only as injury cover.
Let’s not forget Jack Carty, the Connacht out-half who had been Sexton’s back-up at the 2019 World Cup, starting the infamous pool-stage defeat to Japan when the main man was rested by Joe Schmidt.
Carty actually began that game superbly, but he seemed to pay a heavy price for the collective failings thereafter. His only involvement in the Farrell era was as part of the 2022 Six Nations, when he got a couple of minutes off the bench against France.
Stick with us, because we’re only getting to the next generation.
Harry Byrne got his Ireland debut against the US in the summer of 2021 and word from within camp was that Farrell and co. were very excited about his potential.
He got his second cap that autumn against Argentina but as he had to fight for his place in Leinster and deal with injuries, Byrne fell out of the Ireland picture and had to wait more than two years to win another cap, although he was due to feature for the midweek team in New Zealand on the 2022 tour only to be ruled out at a late stage with injury.
Byrne came off the bench twice in the 2024 Six Nations at a time when he was flying with Leinster, yet that provincial campaign tailed off for him. Byrne had the option of going on loan to Connacht for the 2024/25 season but backed himself to stay in Leinster, only to eventually take a loan spell in Bristol in the second half of the campaign.
Byrne did well in England and that has helped to reignite his career, particularly as older brother Ross had decided to leave Leinster for Gloucester by the time Harry got back.
And so it is that 26-year-old Harry has found himself starting some big games for Leinster this season and finding himself name-checked by Ireland boss Farrell several times in November despite not being in the squad. Byrne did impress for the Ireland XV against Spain and he is clearly back in Farrell’s thoughts.
Munster’s Jack Crowley was the next ‘next big thing’ on the scene after Harry Byrne, impressing with his province and Emerging Ireland, leading to his senior Ireland debut in November 2022.
He was third-in-line behind Sexton and Ross Byrne in the 2023 Six Nations but jumped to second in the pecking order for the 2023 World Cup. 30-year-old Byrne hasn’t played for Ireland since that tournament and headed off to Gloucester last summer, having also fallen down Leinster’s pecking order.
When Sexton retired after the 2023 World Cup, Crowley stepped up to help Ireland to the 2024 Six Nations title and looked like being the main man for a long time to come.
Yet new competitors for the throne were emerging.
When Harry Byrne was injured, the versatile Ciarán Frawley stepped up as Ireland’s midweek out-half against the Māori All Blacks on the 2022 tour of New Zealand. He impressed Farrell and everyone else on that trip.
He got his senior Ireland debut against Italy in a warm-up game before the 2023 World Cup but didn’t make the final squad. Frawley returned to the group for the 2024 Six Nations, making two replacement appearances and enjoying a first start at fullback.
Yet it was the 2024 tour of South Africa where Frawley took what appeared to be a huge leap in green. He came off the bench for Crowley in both Tests and landed two brilliant late drop-goals in the second Springboks clash to send Ireland to victory in Durban.
That meant Frawley was seen as a major contender for the number 10 shirt coming into the 2024 November internationals, but it didn’t work out that way.
The Skerries man came off the bench against New Zealand that autumn but made a handful of errors and has not featured much for Ireland since, making just two replacement appearances against Fiji and Portugal even while still being in squads.
But that’s also because another figure was ready to join the party in November 2024.
22-year-old Sam Prendergast, who had toured with Ireland the summer before without being capped, still hadn’t started a Champions Cup game for Leinster and wasn’t clearly ahead of Ross Byrne and Frawley for the province.
Prendergast also had the chance to go to Connacht on loan for the 2024/25 season but turned it down, backing himself to become Leinster’s leading man. That decision worked out very well for him.
Farrell liked what he saw and Prendergast not only jumped ahead of Frawley for Ireland that autumn but also usurped Crowley, who moved into the back-up role at the end of that campaign and on into the 2025 Six Nations.
Crowley did start the last game of the championship against Italy and was then picked at number 10 for the start of the 2025 November Tests against New Zealand in Chicago, but Prendergast was back in the starting XV for the final two matches against Australia and South Africa.
And so, we find ourselves in the present day.
Crowley is the main man in Munster, Prendergast is first-choice in Leinster, but Harry Byrne is putting pressure on. 33-year-old Carty is still with Connacht but well out of the Ireland picture. Burns plays in Japan and Ross Byrne has moved to England.
Frawley is enjoying a strong season with Leinster, albeit initially at inside centre and now at fullback. He turned down a new contract offer and has decided to join Stuart Lancaster’s Connacht next season to play more first-team rugby at out-half.
Frawley turned 28 last month and has basically never had a run of games in the number 10 shirt in order to show what he can do.
Ulster’s first-choice out-half is 21-year-old Jack Murphy, who has been impressing despite his youth. Murphy has played for the Ireland U20s and Emerging Ireland, while he was on the bench for Ireland XV behind Harry Byrne in November, but he has yet to feature for Farrell’s senior group.
The northern province had hoped to bring in Carbery next season to provide a more experienced option at out-half to complement, mentor, and compete with Murphy, but Leinster swooped in to scupper the possibility.
With Frawley opting to head west, Leo Cullen and co. decided to make a bid to bring Carbery home and the deal is believed to be as good as done.
Carbery will return after two seasons with Bordeaux, one of the best and most exciting clubs in the game. He was the back-up out-half to Matthieu Jalibert and also had a couple of starts at fullback last season.
The Irishman hasn’t been a sensation in the Top 14, but he has gone about his business in fine fashion, providing a steady hand in the number 10 shirt when called upon. He has always been a classy player.
Happily, Carbery showed durability last season despite the physicality of the French league. His 25 appearances in that campaign were the second-most of his career, second only to 26 appearances for Ireland and Leinster in his breakout 2016/17 season.
He’s had three starts at out-half this season in the Top 14 and will be on the bench behind the in-form Jalibert for tomorrow’s eagerly anticipated clash with Northampton at the always-lively Stade Chaban Delmas.
Bordeaux is a wonderful city and UBB is a slick, modern club where they play thrilling rugby. Carbery has been working closely with highly-regarded Irish attack coach Noel McNamara there, but he has undoubtedly learned lots about the French way and he will bring a fresh perspective back to Ireland.
Living abroad can be a life-changing experience and there’s no doubt that Carbery will have learned lots about himself.
One of the reasons Carbery was glad to get away from Irish rugby was that it had become such a suffocating, toxic place for him. He felt that the media put him on a pedestal when he was good, but then looked to tear him down when things weren’t going so well.
It will be fascinating to see how the next chapter of his career unfolds as he goes back to where it all started. Carbery has always wanted to be the main man at number 10. It’s one of the reasons he went along with the IRFU’s strong suggestion that he leave Leinster for Munster in the first place in 2018.
And having gained plenty of experience, good and bad, along the way since, Carbery will likely be heading back to Leinster believing that he can push ahead of the players who currently occupy the top spots in the province’s out-half pecking order.
He now comes back onto Farrell’s radar too, and it will be intriguing to see how interested the Ireland boss is, having rather ruthlessly jettisoned him after the 2022 autumn internationals.
Back in 2021, Farrell was wondering if Carbery could “take the bull by the horns and lead like a 10 should” and he didn’t seem to fully convince the Ireland head coach that he could the first time around.
Yet Ireland don’t appear to have had a completely settled picture at out-half since.
Who knows where this story goes next?
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Ireland Number 10 out-half Tumultuous