AT TIMES, IT almost seemed as though Toulouse had a vendetta against Joey Carbery. He kept on peeling himself off the ground and the French side’s big forwards kept on coming back to land another bone-shuddering shot on him.
The 27-year-old dealt with the pressure well, picking himself up, dusting off those hits, and staying focused on his task at hand. There was some nice stuff from Carbery as Munster were beaten 20-16, but he will probably have regrets about the way certain things went too.
Two kickable conversions going awry will rankle, even if those misses occasionally come with the territory, while Carbery will surely have frustration about being hooked with 30 minutes of the game left. This is a new trend over the past fortnight, with boss Graham Rowntree shifting Jack Crowley to out-half against Northampton and then bringing Ben Healy on in Toulouse.
Unfortunately for Munster, Healy was sin-binned with just over 10 minutes to go and that proved to be the end of their challenge for what would have been a massive win in Toulouse.
Last night, Healy flew straight to Scotland camp for the next three days as he prepares for the Six Nations with Gregor Townsend’s men, although he will return to Munster later this week and is available for selection against Benetton in the URC on Saturday.
Crowley too is heading into international camp on Tuesday as Ireland get set to fly out to Portugal on Thursday for a week, but Carbery isn’t involved in the squad after his surprise omission.
Being left out by Farrell means Carbery now faces perhaps the biggest challenge of his career. He had previously never been omitted by Ireland when fit and available. He has been the clear second-in-line to Johnny Sexton since 2018 when Paddy Jackson was ruled out of the equation. Farrell has invested over 1,000 minutes of Test rugby in Carbery but now has him outside his top three out-halves. Jarringly, he has been dropped despite finally getting some momentum in his play during an injury-free run.
There is, of course, scope for Carbery to return to the Ireland mix. Farrell has dropped the likes of James Lowe and Gavin Coombes in the past only to see them respond in impressive fashion and earn recalls, with the former now a key Ireland player. Carbery will be aiming to do something similar.
But it’s also clear that he has a massive challenge ahead in Munster, even with Healy departing for Edinburgh at the end of this season.
Crowley is an ambitious, forceful character – one of the reasons Farrell likes him. The 23-year-old will back himself to be Munster’s first-choice out-half sooner rather than later, having fitted in at inside centre and fullback over the past few months. Munster are very excited about Crowley’s potential as the leader of their team out on the pitch, so it will be intriguing to see how his role continues to grow and how soon it involves being in the number 10 shirt more regularly. Furthermore, it’s evident that Munster won’t just push Healy into the background despite his impending departure in the summer.
And so, Carbery has what feels like the strongest competition yet for his starting spot in Munster. It hasn’t really been the case that he has been under pressure since he moved from Leinster in 2018. Rowntree and his coaches have shown recently that they are not afraid to make big selection calls and leave their most experienced players out.
Remember that Stuart Lancaster and Leo Cullen saw Carbery as having his brightest future as a fullback for Leinster. Perhaps it’s an option that Munster will explore more.
Carbery is still only 27 and his Munster contract runs until 2024 so he has plenty of time on his side as he goes about recovering from his setback with Ireland. He has enough talent to bounce back and remind Farrell of his quality. You don’t win 37 Test caps without having ability, resilience, and strong character.
As for yesterday in Toulouse, Munster boss Rowntree explained his decision to replace Carbery with so long left.
“Tactically, it’s a real comfort to have the likes of Ben and Conor [Murray] available over here,” said Rowntree. “Predominantly, our selection is based around form and tactics. It felt right to have Ben and Conor involved today and it was the right thing to do at the time.
“We don’t have a grand plan over substitutions. It’s ‘feel’ in the moment, in discussions between the coaches.”
As for Carbery’s response to being left out by Ireland, Rowntree was effusive in his praise.
“He was disappointed last week, rightly so,” said the Munster head coach. “He’s been exceptional at training, he drives the group and he’ll learn from that
“It will strengthen his game, I’ve got nothing but praise for the kid. I like working with him. He’s around this week as well, it’s handy for us going to Treviso.
“I can’t speak highly enough about how he’s dealt with that disappointment and that’s when you learn. It’s a moment you have to get through and he will get through it.”
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