CONNACHT OUT-HALF JACK Carty will miss Ireland’s summer tour of New Zealand after undergoing surgery on his right wrist.
The 29-year-old posted an image of himself in a hospital bed, with the affected wrist in a protective cast, explaining to followers that his season “ends here.”
Jokingly lamenting the reality that he’ll “have to do lower limb weights all summer”, Carty described the setback as “a great opportunity to come back bigger and better next season”, punctuating his glass-half-full post with the hashtag ‘#NewWristWhoThis’.
The Athlone native will miss a significant opportunity over the summer to impress in green, with Andy Farrell’s tourists twice playing the Maori All Blacks in midweek games sandwiched between the three Tests against New Zealand.
Carty was given only seconds off the bench against France in Paris in this year’s Six Nations, his first appearance for Ireland since the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
While his inclusion in Farrell’s squad for New Zealand was hardly guaranteed, his absence may open the door for Billy Burns or one of Leinster’s Byrne brothers, all of whom will hope to impress over the remainder of the United Rugby Championship.
Leinster inside centre Ciarán Frawley could also conceivably cover out-half if required, while Munster’s Ben Healy may have an outside shot of completing Ireland’s out-half complement behind Johnny Sexton and Joey Carbery, albeit his and Munster’s season was ended by Ulster on Friday.
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