69 SOLID MINUTES at fullback for Leinster on his return from a knee injury and Ciarán Frawley is straight back into the Ireland squad.
Of course, his recall isn’t just about that run-out for Leinster last weekend. Jamie Osborne’s injury opened up a spot, but Frawley’s recent history with Ireland is more pertinent.
The still-uncapped Frawley is a player now looking to pick up where he left off last time around when it comes to the national team. Andy Farrell and his coaches hold the 25-year-old in high regard.
Had he not suffered his knee injury back in November, it’s almost certain that Frawley would have been capped by now. He could even have become the main back-up to Johnny Sexton at out-half.
Injuries can have a huge impact on a player’s trajectory, so it’s worth looking back on the last 12 months of Frawley’s career.
This time last year, he was enjoying a season with Leinster that would end with him having started 13 games at inside centre and just one at out-half, the position where he had first broken into pro rugby but played less and less frequently in recent years.
Frawley was picked for Ireland’s tour of New Zealand last summer and looked set to start their midweek games against the Māori in the number 12 shirt only for his Leinster team-mate Harry Byrne to get injured. That meant Frawley moved to 10 for those two matches.
He was impressive in the second Māori game, guiding Ireland to victory in tough weather conditions. Farrell and his assistants were encouraged, not only by that performance from Frawley but also how he trained in New Zealand. Ireland’s coaches liked Frawley’s calmness and his understanding of the style they wanted to play. There’s his athleticism, intuitive reading of the game, and strong right boot too.
Ireland weren’t the only nation interested in Frawley last year. He was born in Sydney and the Australians are aware of this fact. Indeed, it’s understood that then-Rugby Australia director of rugby Scott Johnson sounded Frawley out about a move Down Under before he signed his current Leinster contract.
Frawley surely considered the option strongly but he wants to play for Ireland and decided to extend his Leinster deal. His first Ireland cap would have come last autumn but for injury.
Having been named as one of the three out-halves in Farrell’s main senior squad for the November Tests, Frawley started at number 10 for Ireland A against the All Blacks XV in Dublin in early November but was unfortunate to suffer his knee injury.
Jack Crowley came off the bench, and then replaced Frawley in the senior squad. As we know, Crowley made his Test debut off the bench against Fiji and then started a week later versus Australia following injuries to Sexton and Joey Carbery.
All of that also meant Ross Byrne came off the bench to kick the winning penalty and he hasn’t looked back since, featuring in all three of Ireland’s Six Nations games in recent weeks. 37-times capped Carbery is now on the outside of the squad looking in.
So Frawley can justifiably wonder what might have been.
He knows that looking back in frustration won’t help him now. Sexton, Byrne, and Crowley have been the three out-halves for this Six Nations campaign and Frawley is returning to the squad after four months out of action.
It might be that he’s too late to play a part in this campaign, but he will have the World Cup firmly in his sights. His mission starts with making a big impression in Ireland camp this week.
It surely helps his cause that he’s so versatile. Even with World Cup squads going up in number from 31 players to 33 this year, Farrell still has tough calls to make.
The fact that Frawley can play at out-half, inside centre, and fullback is hugely beneficial. There has been plenty of chat recently about Hugo Keenan not having a clear back-up at number 15. Could Frawley challenge there too?
One of the key decisions in Farrell’s selection will be whether to bring four centres or just three, preserving another slot for a back three player. Frawley could be one of the answers to that conundrum, even if he wants to play at out-half.
That’s where his main ambition lies. As we saw last weekend, part of the challenge for Frawley is getting minutes at 10 for Leinster. He was at 15 against Edinburgh with Harry Byrne continuing as the starting out-half. Sexton and Byrne will soon return from Six Nations camp to provide more options for Leinster at out-half.
But clearly there is lots about Frawley that Ireland are keen on. The fact that the Aussies have already tried to poach him underlines that he’s a player with a future in Test rugby.
- Originally published on The42 at 11.55am, updated to appear on TheJournal.
