WITH SO MANY Ireland regulars away with the Lions this summer, the upcoming tour to Georgia and Portugal was always going to offer Paul O’Connell and Co an opportunity to test their players in different ways.
One key area is leadership. With Caelan Doris sidelined and other prominent voices such as James Ryan, Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Beirne and Garry Ringrose all in Australia, the captaincy was always going to be an interesting call.
The decision to select Craig Casey as captain for the two-game tour comes on the back of an impressive season for the Munster scrum-half, who looks primed to take another big step in his career over the coming months.
The 26-year-old has been open about his disappointment in missing out on the Lions, but the opportunity to captain his country for the first time indicates just how highly rated he is among the Ireland coaches. Andy Farrell will be following closely from Australia.
Munster attack coach Mike Prendergast is part of Paul O’Connell’s coaching staff for this window, and feels the scrum-half is ready for the step up. “He would be one of our leaders (at Munster),” Prendergast says.
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Casey finished the season in strong form for Munster. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
“He’s full of energy. He’s a student of the game. His leadership, guys will listen because he’s a guy who is incredibly diligent. He’s all over his stuff and you always want people to follow that. So he hasn’t been any different than what he would be down in Munster.
“Obviously through the week and through next week that will ramp up from his point of view, I would imagine. But he brings a really good calmness to people as well. It’s great to have him one, within the squad and two, as a captain. He has all the leadership qualities that you ask for from a person.”
In many ways it’s a natural progression. Casey captained Ardscoil Rís at schools level and was vice-captain during his time as an Ireland U20 international, after also captaining the Ireland U18s. He’s been in the Munster leadership group since he was 20 and has handled that responsibility well, growing into an important figure behind the scenes.
“Look, he’s a fantastic leader,” says Casey’s Munster teammate Tom Ahern, who is also part of Ireland’s summer squad.
“On and off the field there’s not a more dedicated man in the squad. All the stuff he does off the field goes unseen to most people but he’s such a good leader and he’s such a good guy in general.
He’s the perfect person for this tour because everybody gets behind him and there’s great energy around the place.”
The opportunity arrives at an interesting point in Casey’s career. He had already eclipsed Conor Murray as Munster’s first-choice nine but with the likes of Murray, Peter O’Mahony and Dave Kilcoyne all moving on, Casey is now a senior leader in the squad. At international level, he’ll hope to to increasingly put the pressure on Leinster’s Jamison Gibson-Park. It’s a tall order given Gibson-Park’s quality, but Casey, who has been capped 18 times at Test level, will feel it’s achievable.
Gibson-Park remains Ireland's first-choice nine. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Casey was in strong form at the tail-end of last season, and injury to Gibson-Park opened the door for him to start the first of two summer Tests in South Africa, where he was stretchered off following a heavy hit from RG Snyman in the second half.
Another unfortunate injury hit him midway through the season just gone, with a meniscus injury suffered away to Castres in December requiring surgery and ruling the Limerick native out of the Six Nations – damaging his Lions prospects at the same time.
Four months later, Casey returned to action and quickly found his form, stringing together a number of impressive showings across his nine appearances before Munster’s season ended.
Those two injury setbacks punctured his progress at key moments, but when he’s been fit, Casey has proved an increasingly important and reliable player for club and country.
“I just think the more exposure, the more game time he played, you could see his calmness was coming into the game,” Prendergast explains.
“Technically, he’s a very, very good nine. He’s got a very good kicking game. He’s got a very good passing game. His ability to, when we want to play a high-tempo game, we talk about our nines being stuck to the ruck. I think in terms of his fitness, playing at that level week in, week out, he’s made nice steps forward as a player.
“Obviously his professionalism and his leadership and everything is always growing. I think just overall, his calmness and his ability in terms of his decision-making is really pushing on. He’s turning out to be a fine scrum-half at the moment.”
It might not be the summer tour he hoped to be on, but the added responsibility of taking the captaincy will ensure this remains a valuable window for Casey.
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'He's the perfect person for this tour' - Ireland captaincy a great opportunity for Casey
WITH SO MANY Ireland regulars away with the Lions this summer, the upcoming tour to Georgia and Portugal was always going to offer Paul O’Connell and Co an opportunity to test their players in different ways.
One key area is leadership. With Caelan Doris sidelined and other prominent voices such as James Ryan, Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Beirne and Garry Ringrose all in Australia, the captaincy was always going to be an interesting call.
The decision to select Craig Casey as captain for the two-game tour comes on the back of an impressive season for the Munster scrum-half, who looks primed to take another big step in his career over the coming months.
The 26-year-old has been open about his disappointment in missing out on the Lions, but the opportunity to captain his country for the first time indicates just how highly rated he is among the Ireland coaches. Andy Farrell will be following closely from Australia.
Munster attack coach Mike Prendergast is part of Paul O’Connell’s coaching staff for this window, and feels the scrum-half is ready for the step up. “He would be one of our leaders (at Munster),” Prendergast says.
“He’s full of energy. He’s a student of the game. His leadership, guys will listen because he’s a guy who is incredibly diligent. He’s all over his stuff and you always want people to follow that. So he hasn’t been any different than what he would be down in Munster.
“Obviously through the week and through next week that will ramp up from his point of view, I would imagine. But he brings a really good calmness to people as well. It’s great to have him one, within the squad and two, as a captain. He has all the leadership qualities that you ask for from a person.”
In many ways it’s a natural progression. Casey captained Ardscoil Rís at schools level and was vice-captain during his time as an Ireland U20 international, after also captaining the Ireland U18s. He’s been in the Munster leadership group since he was 20 and has handled that responsibility well, growing into an important figure behind the scenes.
“Look, he’s a fantastic leader,” says Casey’s Munster teammate Tom Ahern, who is also part of Ireland’s summer squad.
“On and off the field there’s not a more dedicated man in the squad. All the stuff he does off the field goes unseen to most people but he’s such a good leader and he’s such a good guy in general.
The opportunity arrives at an interesting point in Casey’s career. He had already eclipsed Conor Murray as Munster’s first-choice nine but with the likes of Murray, Peter O’Mahony and Dave Kilcoyne all moving on, Casey is now a senior leader in the squad. At international level, he’ll hope to to increasingly put the pressure on Leinster’s Jamison Gibson-Park. It’s a tall order given Gibson-Park’s quality, but Casey, who has been capped 18 times at Test level, will feel it’s achievable.
Casey was in strong form at the tail-end of last season, and injury to Gibson-Park opened the door for him to start the first of two summer Tests in South Africa, where he was stretchered off following a heavy hit from RG Snyman in the second half.
Another unfortunate injury hit him midway through the season just gone, with a meniscus injury suffered away to Castres in December requiring surgery and ruling the Limerick native out of the Six Nations – damaging his Lions prospects at the same time.
Four months later, Casey returned to action and quickly found his form, stringing together a number of impressive showings across his nine appearances before Munster’s season ended.
Those two injury setbacks punctured his progress at key moments, but when he’s been fit, Casey has proved an increasingly important and reliable player for club and country.
“I just think the more exposure, the more game time he played, you could see his calmness was coming into the game,” Prendergast explains.
“Technically, he’s a very, very good nine. He’s got a very good kicking game. He’s got a very good passing game. His ability to, when we want to play a high-tempo game, we talk about our nines being stuck to the ruck. I think in terms of his fitness, playing at that level week in, week out, he’s made nice steps forward as a player.
“Obviously his professionalism and his leadership and everything is always growing. I think just overall, his calmness and his ability in terms of his decision-making is really pushing on. He’s turning out to be a fine scrum-half at the moment.”
It might not be the summer tour he hoped to be on, but the added responsibility of taking the captaincy will ensure this remains a valuable window for Casey.
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craig casey Ireland Leader Mike Prendergast