ACROSS ALL THE moments which would have made for a painful rewatch during Ireland’s review of their defeat to New Zealand, Cam Roigard’s late try would have been right up there.
Attacking off a New Zealand scrum deep in the Ireland 22, Roigard takes possession and slips through a number of Ireland players to score try number four for the All Blacks. Craig Casey is the first man left chasing Roigard’s shadow, with Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris also unable to stop the scrum-half, who snipes to score with far too much ease. In dissecting what went wrong, those involved had to accept responsibility.
“It’s completely on me,” says Casey, who was speaking to the media in Abbotstown earlier this week.
“I got caught up at the time with the winger coming in. I have watched it 25 times and I still don’t know what I was thinking at the time. I have to take it on the chin, come back from it, and be better. It’s never nice when a scrum-half scores against you, either.
“It has been eating at me for the last few days. I got the chance to say it in the meeting, be honest with the lads. Everyone has been like that over the last few days. You probably can’t recover from it if you are not honest with each other or honest with yourself.”
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It’s the unfortunate lasting memory of an experience which didn’t go the way the scrum-half would have liked, with Casey replacing Jamison Gibson-Park for the final 13 minutes, shortly after Ireland had seen New Zealand storm from 13-7 down into a 21-7 lead.
“I wasn’t too happy to be honest. Obviously it’s difficult when you’ve lost as a team but you want to come on and impact games. I had very few touches on the ball. That’s not within my control. I felt I didn’t come on and steal the show the way I wanted to. So, hopefully the reflections will help me move forward.”
Casey will hope the outing is nothing more than a blip on what has been a promising upward trend. While injury disrupted the 26-year-old’s progress last season, he still managed to deliver some standout performances which suggested he was closing the gap on Leinster’s Gibson-Park.
Casey was disappointed with his cameo in Chicago. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
His coaches clearly see the potential and value Casey’s leadership qualities. He was Ireland captain on the summer tour to Georgia and Portugal and captained Munster for the first time in September – his only appearance for the province so far this season due to injury.
Casey is still not the player he feels he can become, but he certainly looks well placed to further his case over the coming weeks.
“I’m definitely not where I want to be as a player. I’ve definitely grown over the last few years but there’s still a long way to go to take my game to the next level and to try and get to be consistently world class. There is a lot of hard work still to do.
“I’m very ambitious. I want to get to the highest level of the game.”
A previous criticism of Casey would have been a tendency to rush things. That’s long been eliminated from his game.
“The scan and the calmness is something you have probably seen improve over the last 18 months,” he explains.
“When things click in your mind and you can actually see things that you have never seen before on the field, that is the biggest area of growth. My next area of growth is to be an all-round player, to bring your full game to every single game and just be consistently world class. I’m very happy with the basics of my game. It is probably adding layers onto that.
“When you come into camp, you get a real sense of what scanning means to the top class players,” he continues.
Casey speaking to the media in Abbotstown. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“Jamison as a nine, Johnny (Sexton) as well, seeing what they were looking for and how they were three steps ahead of the game, Johnny getting on to wingers and centres to see what they wanted from you. It was just a different world.
“It probably started to click for me at the end of the 2024 season when we went to South Africa and I got the chance to be the number nine. It fully clicked then and it has kicked on over the last 12 months.”
He hopes to get more chances to be Ireland’s nine over the coming weeks.
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“I do know that whenever I step onto the pitch, I need to put my best foot forward and play well and have no excuses when I don’t play well. It’s just about consistently being world class and seeing where I can take my game. That is where the coaches will probably make a decision after that.
“I hope I am pretty close (to being first-choice). I have pushed a lot over the last 12 months but I have a lot of respect for Jamo as a player.
“I don’t want to be second choice. I didn’t want to be the third choice over the last few years. It’s about taking the chance when I do get it. Hopefully I will get the chance.”
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Casey: 'I'm very ambitious. I want to get to the highest level'
ACROSS ALL THE moments which would have made for a painful rewatch during Ireland’s review of their defeat to New Zealand, Cam Roigard’s late try would have been right up there.
Attacking off a New Zealand scrum deep in the Ireland 22, Roigard takes possession and slips through a number of Ireland players to score try number four for the All Blacks. Craig Casey is the first man left chasing Roigard’s shadow, with Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris also unable to stop the scrum-half, who snipes to score with far too much ease. In dissecting what went wrong, those involved had to accept responsibility.
“It’s completely on me,” says Casey, who was speaking to the media in Abbotstown earlier this week.
“I got caught up at the time with the winger coming in. I have watched it 25 times and I still don’t know what I was thinking at the time. I have to take it on the chin, come back from it, and be better. It’s never nice when a scrum-half scores against you, either.
“It has been eating at me for the last few days. I got the chance to say it in the meeting, be honest with the lads. Everyone has been like that over the last few days. You probably can’t recover from it if you are not honest with each other or honest with yourself.”
It’s the unfortunate lasting memory of an experience which didn’t go the way the scrum-half would have liked, with Casey replacing Jamison Gibson-Park for the final 13 minutes, shortly after Ireland had seen New Zealand storm from 13-7 down into a 21-7 lead.
“I wasn’t too happy to be honest. Obviously it’s difficult when you’ve lost as a team but you want to come on and impact games. I had very few touches on the ball. That’s not within my control. I felt I didn’t come on and steal the show the way I wanted to. So, hopefully the reflections will help me move forward.”
Casey will hope the outing is nothing more than a blip on what has been a promising upward trend. While injury disrupted the 26-year-old’s progress last season, he still managed to deliver some standout performances which suggested he was closing the gap on Leinster’s Gibson-Park.
His coaches clearly see the potential and value Casey’s leadership qualities. He was Ireland captain on the summer tour to Georgia and Portugal and captained Munster for the first time in September – his only appearance for the province so far this season due to injury.
Casey is still not the player he feels he can become, but he certainly looks well placed to further his case over the coming weeks.
“I’m definitely not where I want to be as a player. I’ve definitely grown over the last few years but there’s still a long way to go to take my game to the next level and to try and get to be consistently world class. There is a lot of hard work still to do.
“I’m very ambitious. I want to get to the highest level of the game.”
A previous criticism of Casey would have been a tendency to rush things. That’s long been eliminated from his game.
“The scan and the calmness is something you have probably seen improve over the last 18 months,” he explains.
“When things click in your mind and you can actually see things that you have never seen before on the field, that is the biggest area of growth. My next area of growth is to be an all-round player, to bring your full game to every single game and just be consistently world class. I’m very happy with the basics of my game. It is probably adding layers onto that.
“When you come into camp, you get a real sense of what scanning means to the top class players,” he continues.
“Jamison as a nine, Johnny (Sexton) as well, seeing what they were looking for and how they were three steps ahead of the game, Johnny getting on to wingers and centres to see what they wanted from you. It was just a different world.
“It probably started to click for me at the end of the 2024 season when we went to South Africa and I got the chance to be the number nine. It fully clicked then and it has kicked on over the last 12 months.”
He hopes to get more chances to be Ireland’s nine over the coming weeks.
“I do know that whenever I step onto the pitch, I need to put my best foot forward and play well and have no excuses when I don’t play well. It’s just about consistently being world class and seeing where I can take my game. That is where the coaches will probably make a decision after that.
“I hope I am pretty close (to being first-choice). I have pushed a lot over the last 12 months but I have a lot of respect for Jamo as a player.
“I don’t want to be second choice. I didn’t want to be the third choice over the last few years. It’s about taking the chance when I do get it. Hopefully I will get the chance.”
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