BORDEAUX WERE ALREADY cruising when Joey Carbery was introduced off the bench at Stade Chaban Delmas yesterday.
Out-half Matthieu Jalibert had just scored an explosive turnover try and added the conversion from wide on the right, topping off his latest standout performance. He is doing everything he can to claim France’s number 10 shirt for the Six Nations.
Jalibert made way with 19 minutes left and his team leading Northampton 50-14, as Carbery was sent on in a role that has been familiar since the Irishman joined Union Bordeaux Bègles on a two-year deal in 2024.
The Irish out-half knew he was signing for a club with a well-established presence in the number 10 shirt. Yet he has always been ambitious about playing a leading role in any team he’s been part of.
30-year-old Carbery’s first touch yesterday was a dummy kick to get out of trouble inside his own 22, while his second was an excellent long kick down the left touchline that enticed Northampton’s George Hendy to step into touch just as he gathered the ball.
But Carbery’s next involvement was a knock-on in the Saints’ 22 as he looked up at the onrushing Anthony Belleau and lost the ball forward.
The Irishman’s first defensive act was a good low tackle on Henry Pollock off a scrum, and he soon managed to stop second row Alex Coles from scoring from five metres out.
Carbery hit a couple of accurate restarts but was turned over when trying to counter-attack at one stage.
A yellow card for Arthur Retière meant Carbery spent the closing minutes of the game at scrum-half. Having been a promising nine in his age-grade days, Carbery did a fine job on the final attack of the game for Bordeaux, but they didn’t add a ninth try.
Joey Carbery after his last game for Munster in 2024. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Carbery has had two Champions Cup starts at out-half during his time with Bordeaux so far, both of them against Ulster last season. Jalibert was absent for the first of those games in Belfast, but he was used off the bench in the second as head coach Yannick Bru decided to give Carbery a starting shot in that Round of 16 tie in Bordeaux.
The Irish playmaker was delivering a classy performance for UBB that day as they won a highly entertaining game 43-31, although he was forced off injured after 46 minutes.
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Carbery’s other Champions Cup start last season was at fullback against the Sharks on a day when Bordeaux were in the kind of rampant form that few club sides can match. Jalibert and Carbery formed a tidy 10-15 playmaking axis as Bru’s men scored eight tries in a 66-12 hammering of the Sharks.
The only other occasion on which Carbery has started a game at number 15 for UBB was earlier last season in the Top 14 when they clawed their way to a 9-6 victory over Montpellier, although he has come off the bench at fullback on other occasions.
Just over half of Carbery’s 33 appearances for Bordeaux so far have come as a replacement. Nearly all of his 17 starts for the club have been at out-half when Jalibert has been rested or missing due to injury.
Last season ended up being a robust campaign for Carbery after what appeared to be a nightmare start. The Athy man was blighted by injury throughout his time in Munster, so suffering a fractured hand on his debut for Bordeaux was tough.
He was sidelined for seven weeks as a result, but Carbery largely managed to steer clear of injury thereafter and had one of the busiest seasons of his career. Indeed, Carbery’s total of 25 appearances in the Champions Cup and Top 14 was the second-highest of any of his seasons, just behind the 26 he made for Leinster and Ireland in 2016/17.
Being the back-up to a player as thrilling as Jalibert isn’t easy, but Carbery has generally delivered tidy performances for UBB. His place-kicking continued to be a strength last season as he finished with a success rate of 83.5%. That said, he has had a dip so far this season, landing only five of his 12 attempts [42%] in the Top 14 so far.
Many foreign players have struggled to fit into the Top 14, sometimes harshly being dubbed as ‘flops,’ but Carbery wasn’t put in that category. His role was clear from the start and while he hasn’t been grabbing headlines with sensational individual performances, he has done his job.
Carbery with Louis Bielle-Biarrey. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
Carbery’s Top 14 starts have often come when UBB have rotated, so his win record as UBB’s starting out-half is just under 50%. That’s a collective responsibility, but Carbery has possibly paid the price for that in a few critics’ eyes.
Unfortunately for Carbery, the UBB staff opted to go with a 6/2 bench split for last season’s Champions Cup quarter-final against Munster and then the final against Northampton.
Carbery did come off the bench in the semi-final win over Toulouse but it must have been frustrating not to feature in the decider against the Saints. He still got his medal, having played five times during the campaign.
It was his second winner’s medal in the competition, having been an unused replacement for Leinster in their 2018 success against Racing in Bilbao.
Carbery came off the bench in the semi-final and final of the Top 14, although it was extra time before he got on in the latter as Toulouse gained revenge over UBB. Two penalties from Thomas Ramos got les Toulousains over the line, denying Bordeaux a double.
On the whole, Carbery must have been pleased with his first season in France.
He had a month-long spell on the sidelines with a thigh injury at the start of this season, and it was around that time in September that it started to become clear that this would be Carbery’s final campaign with Bordeaux.
French publications Sud Ouest and L’Équipe reported that current Montpellier out-half Hugo Reus had signed for UBB on a two-year deal from next season onwards.
And that’s when the first whispers of a possible return for Carbery to Irish rugby were heard.
Reus previously played for Bordeaux’s youth teams before moving to La Rochelle, so he is returning to his former club and will look to provide support for and compete with Jalibert in the next few years.
Carbery playing against Ulster last season. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
It looks like being something of a similar story for Carbery, with Leinster in pole position to bring him back to the place where his career started.
21-year-old Reus is obviously considerably younger than Carbery and having guided the France U20s to back-to-back World Championship finals in 2023 and 2024, winning the first one against Ireland, he is clearly a major prospect.
Reus would also presumably be more affordable than Carbery, who has 37 caps for Ireland, so Bordeaux’s decision to go in a different direction makes sense on a few counts.
Before returning home, Carbery will obviously be aiming to have an enjoyable and successful final five months with Bordeaux.
Bru’s men are clearly in with an excellent chance of retaining their Champions Cup title, while they’ll be hoping to put things right in the Top 14 final on 27 June.
As things stand, there’s a good chance Carbery will be coming back to Ireland with at least one more medal in his collection.
He will also probably reflect on a challenging but worthwhile life experience with his young family, as well as a unique rugby experience at Stade Chaban Delmas and around the Top 14.
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Carbery on the hunt for another medal with UBB before homecoming
BORDEAUX WERE ALREADY cruising when Joey Carbery was introduced off the bench at Stade Chaban Delmas yesterday.
Out-half Matthieu Jalibert had just scored an explosive turnover try and added the conversion from wide on the right, topping off his latest standout performance. He is doing everything he can to claim France’s number 10 shirt for the Six Nations.
Jalibert made way with 19 minutes left and his team leading Northampton 50-14, as Carbery was sent on in a role that has been familiar since the Irishman joined Union Bordeaux Bègles on a two-year deal in 2024.
The Irish out-half knew he was signing for a club with a well-established presence in the number 10 shirt. Yet he has always been ambitious about playing a leading role in any team he’s been part of.
30-year-old Carbery’s first touch yesterday was a dummy kick to get out of trouble inside his own 22, while his second was an excellent long kick down the left touchline that enticed Northampton’s George Hendy to step into touch just as he gathered the ball.
But Carbery’s next involvement was a knock-on in the Saints’ 22 as he looked up at the onrushing Anthony Belleau and lost the ball forward.
The Irishman’s first defensive act was a good low tackle on Henry Pollock off a scrum, and he soon managed to stop second row Alex Coles from scoring from five metres out.
Carbery hit a couple of accurate restarts but was turned over when trying to counter-attack at one stage.
A yellow card for Arthur Retière meant Carbery spent the closing minutes of the game at scrum-half. Having been a promising nine in his age-grade days, Carbery did a fine job on the final attack of the game for Bordeaux, but they didn’t add a ninth try.
Carbery has had two Champions Cup starts at out-half during his time with Bordeaux so far, both of them against Ulster last season. Jalibert was absent for the first of those games in Belfast, but he was used off the bench in the second as head coach Yannick Bru decided to give Carbery a starting shot in that Round of 16 tie in Bordeaux.
The Irish playmaker was delivering a classy performance for UBB that day as they won a highly entertaining game 43-31, although he was forced off injured after 46 minutes.
Carbery’s other Champions Cup start last season was at fullback against the Sharks on a day when Bordeaux were in the kind of rampant form that few club sides can match. Jalibert and Carbery formed a tidy 10-15 playmaking axis as Bru’s men scored eight tries in a 66-12 hammering of the Sharks.
The only other occasion on which Carbery has started a game at number 15 for UBB was earlier last season in the Top 14 when they clawed their way to a 9-6 victory over Montpellier, although he has come off the bench at fullback on other occasions.
Just over half of Carbery’s 33 appearances for Bordeaux so far have come as a replacement. Nearly all of his 17 starts for the club have been at out-half when Jalibert has been rested or missing due to injury.
Last season ended up being a robust campaign for Carbery after what appeared to be a nightmare start. The Athy man was blighted by injury throughout his time in Munster, so suffering a fractured hand on his debut for Bordeaux was tough.
He was sidelined for seven weeks as a result, but Carbery largely managed to steer clear of injury thereafter and had one of the busiest seasons of his career. Indeed, Carbery’s total of 25 appearances in the Champions Cup and Top 14 was the second-highest of any of his seasons, just behind the 26 he made for Leinster and Ireland in 2016/17.
Being the back-up to a player as thrilling as Jalibert isn’t easy, but Carbery has generally delivered tidy performances for UBB. His place-kicking continued to be a strength last season as he finished with a success rate of 83.5%. That said, he has had a dip so far this season, landing only five of his 12 attempts [42%] in the Top 14 so far.
Many foreign players have struggled to fit into the Top 14, sometimes harshly being dubbed as ‘flops,’ but Carbery wasn’t put in that category. His role was clear from the start and while he hasn’t been grabbing headlines with sensational individual performances, he has done his job.
Carbery’s Top 14 starts have often come when UBB have rotated, so his win record as UBB’s starting out-half is just under 50%. That’s a collective responsibility, but Carbery has possibly paid the price for that in a few critics’ eyes.
Unfortunately for Carbery, the UBB staff opted to go with a 6/2 bench split for last season’s Champions Cup quarter-final against Munster and then the final against Northampton.
Carbery did come off the bench in the semi-final win over Toulouse but it must have been frustrating not to feature in the decider against the Saints. He still got his medal, having played five times during the campaign.
It was his second winner’s medal in the competition, having been an unused replacement for Leinster in their 2018 success against Racing in Bilbao.
Carbery came off the bench in the semi-final and final of the Top 14, although it was extra time before he got on in the latter as Toulouse gained revenge over UBB. Two penalties from Thomas Ramos got les Toulousains over the line, denying Bordeaux a double.
On the whole, Carbery must have been pleased with his first season in France.
He had a month-long spell on the sidelines with a thigh injury at the start of this season, and it was around that time in September that it started to become clear that this would be Carbery’s final campaign with Bordeaux.
French publications Sud Ouest and L’Équipe reported that current Montpellier out-half Hugo Reus had signed for UBB on a two-year deal from next season onwards.
And that’s when the first whispers of a possible return for Carbery to Irish rugby were heard.
Reus previously played for Bordeaux’s youth teams before moving to La Rochelle, so he is returning to his former club and will look to provide support for and compete with Jalibert in the next few years.
It looks like being something of a similar story for Carbery, with Leinster in pole position to bring him back to the place where his career started.
21-year-old Reus is obviously considerably younger than Carbery and having guided the France U20s to back-to-back World Championship finals in 2023 and 2024, winning the first one against Ireland, he is clearly a major prospect.
Reus would also presumably be more affordable than Carbery, who has 37 caps for Ireland, so Bordeaux’s decision to go in a different direction makes sense on a few counts.
Before returning home, Carbery will obviously be aiming to have an enjoyable and successful final five months with Bordeaux.
Bru’s men are clearly in with an excellent chance of retaining their Champions Cup title, while they’ll be hoping to put things right in the Top 14 final on 27 June.
As things stand, there’s a good chance Carbery will be coming back to Ireland with at least one more medal in his collection.
He will also probably reflect on a challenging but worthwhile life experience with his young family, as well as a unique rugby experience at Stade Chaban Delmas and around the Top 14.
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Bordeaux Irish Abroad Joey Carbery UBB