WITH JOEY CARBERY playing some delightful rugby for the first 48 minutes of Ireland’s win over Italy two weekends ago, all was going rather swimmingly for Joe Schmidt’s squad.
The Munster man was underlining his creative class and also delivering a highly-polished kicking performance, perhaps even suggesting that he could apply a degree of pressure to first-choice out-half Johnny Sexton.
That was until Carbery got his ankle trapped while contributing to a tackle close to Ireland’s tryline. Game over, a minor procedure required, and a four- to six-week recovery, with Ireland due to fly out to the World Cup four weeks after announcing that timeframe.
Carbery is now in a race against time to prove his fitness to travel to Japan and although Schmidt and his coaching staff are hopeful the playmaker will be good to go, they have suddenly had to reassess their options at out-half.
Right now, opportunity knocks for Jack Carty and Ross Byrne, the two players next in line. With Sexton having sat out training in Portugal yesterday due to what Ireland said was “soreness,” we may well see Carty and Byrne playing against England in Twickenham on Saturday, while also possibly having further opportunity in the back-to-back games against Wales that follow.
Whatever happens next, Ireland are certainly facing something of a conundrum as they wait to see how Carbery recovers.
“It’s definitely made us think and work out what the best route forward is for us,” says assistant coach Richie Murphy.
“We can’t go into a World Cup with a situation where we’ve only got Johnny as maybe our main 10 and other guys who haven’t had exposure at that level. We can’t do that.
“These three games are an opportunity to get guys some game time, and an opportunity to sort of stake a claim for a spot in that squad.
“Unfortunately that’s been taken away from Joey; it’s out of his hands now. So what can he do? Well, he has to get himself fit and show and give confidence to the coaches that he’s ready to play.
“But it’s a difficult situation for Joey because his first game could be Scotland [Ireland's first pool game at the World Cup] and we mightn’t have seen a hell of a lot of him in training before that.
“So in some ways, it’s come out of Joey’s control in relation to staking a claim for his place in the squad.”
Murphy confirmed that Ireland are “definitely leaning towards” bringing five half-backs to the World Cup and said the likelihood is that they will select 14 backs and 17 forwards.
That would suggest two scrum-halves will go to Japan, with three out-halves.
Carbery’s ability to play at out-half but also cover fullback and even scrum-half would certainly be very useful, but his place now looks in jeopardy due to that cruelly-timed injury.
Carty and Byrne, for their part, will have to take their chances in the coming weeks, underlining to Schmidt and co. that they can do it in a Test match against top-tier opposition.
So far, Carty has had just 65 minutes of Test rugby for Ireland [0 starts, 4 sub appearances], while Byrne has racked up only 74 [0 starts, 2 sub appearances].
In contrast, Sexton has had 1,756 at out-half in this World Cup cycle alone, while Carbery has enjoyed 474. Paddy Jackson is, of course, now out of the picture.
Carty was “a little bit disappointed” with his outing off the bench against Italy, according to Murphy, but he says Ireland have belief in both out-halves.
“It wasn’t too long ago when Joey and Ross were competing against each other in Leinster for the spot, where Ross was getting it more times than not because Joey was playing 15,” says Murphy.
“We have a lot of faith in Ross and Jack. They bring slightly different strengths. Ross’ organisation and ability to run the team is really strong. Jack plays lovely, sort of free ball and organises well, and he’s great at spotting space behind, and is also quite quick when he gets through the line.
“Those two give us different options and we just have to work out what it actually is we need for the squad and what’s best for the individual in relation to game time to get them ready for the World Cup, but it’s also what’s best for the rest of the players in the team and what kind of a 10 we need.”
Scrum-half Conor Murray, who is set for his first outing of the season against England, will likely be tasked with combining with Carty and/or Byrne in the halfbacks over the coming weeks, and his sense is that both players are capable of stepping up.
“They’ve been around the squad for a while and they know what to do and what’s expected of them when they do step in,” says Murray.
“With Ross and Jack, it’s just about understanding them individually and that’s through the eight weeks [of pre-season], spending time off the pitch with them as well. That’s really important, just getting to know their personality and how they tick.
“It could be a huge chance for them and I’m looking forward to it. It’s not like going into a small game, it’s Twickenham and a massive Test and I think the two of them have shown the quality to control the game and they have the ability and they deserve their chance there.”
Carty and Byrne won’t be the only players desperate to take any opportunities on offer this weekend or beyond, with Schmidt still facing the reality of cutting nine more players from his current 40-man squad before the World Cup.
Ireland will officially name their 31-man group to travel on 8 September, but it’s unclear whether they will make further cuts before then.
“When that 40 will come down is a decision that will be made by the coaches,” says Murphy.
“We’re happy with the group at the moment but the closer we get to the second last game [against Wales], some guys might end up coming out of the squad and unfortunately that’s just the way it is.
“And even out of the 40 who are in the squad at the moment, there could be guys that don’t get an opportunity to play because that’s what is best for the team going to the World Cup.
“Everything we’ve done so far is to try to make sure that the 31 players that are going to the World Cup are the best prepared that they can be.”
