THE QUESTION MARK over Joey Carbery’s durability has once again raised its head.
The 24-year-old’s latest spell on the sidelines could last for up to four months, the Munster out-half having sustained a wrist ligament injury in last weekend’s defeat to Ulster, playing on through the issue in the second half before scans later revealed the extent of the problem.
The Ireland international is understandably devastated and some will write him off as brittle, this injury following on from an ankle issue and hamstring problems last year, as well as a broken arm in November 2017.
Rugby takes a serious toll on virtually all of those in the firing line, but the Carbery doubters will argue that he is more injury-prone than most.
His recent injury list makes it difficult to disagree, but Munster boss Johann van Graan is backing the Athy man to return from his latest setback stronger than ever. Carbery will definitely miss the entire Six Nations with Ireland and this injury, which requires surgery, could keep him out of action until late April or possibly even into May.
Having completed the full 80 minutes of games just twice over the course of 2019 – racking up just 518 minutes of game time in total for province and country – 2020 has started miserably for Carbery too.
“Firstly, just factually, he had a bit of a knock in the first half against Ulster and nothing seemed serious,” said van Graan when asked if he worries about Carbery’s durability.
“He struggled a bit with his grip but didn’t feel a lot of pain. We sent him for a scan on Monday and it came back that there was some damage to the hand.
“It was a bit of a surprise for all of us, really. He was gutted when he came in here on Monday afternoon and I said to him that it’s unfortunate, that’s rugby and that’s life. He is certainly a very strong character and he’s come back from a few setbacks. I’m sure he’ll come back from this one as well.
“I think the quality is so big with Joey and with the nature of the injury, at least there are some other things in the initial part of his rehab that we can do to improve him even more. That’s why I got him to Munster, he’s such a big part of where we want to take this team.
“We’ve had him for 80 minutes this season and unfortunately that’s just the way rugby goes. Joey will be back stronger.”
Munster must move on swiftly with Sunday’s massive Champions Cup clash with Racing 92 looming, and Carbery’s injury is badly-timed in view of that make-or-break tie in Paris.
With Tyler Bleyendaal out of action indefinitely with a concerning neck injury, van Graan is hoping that JJ Hanrahan recovers from a hamstring issue to take his place as Munster’s starting out-half against Racing.
If he doesn’t, van Graan says Munster will back 20-year-old academy out-half Ben Healy or inside centre Rory Scannell – who has briefly played at out-half for Munster, as well as in school and the AIL – to deliver in their number 10 shirt this weekend.
“JJ is in good form, he was out on the pitch for a while today, did a bit of team training, not at 100% yet,” said van Graan yesterday.
“JJ is an experienced 10 and an important member of our squad. He has been the in-form 10 for Munster this season.
“We will put him through a fitness test on Friday and if he comes through that, we’ll put him into training and if he comes through training, we’ll select him. If he doesn’t come through that, then we’re going to go with Ben and Rory. We’ll make our decision then as to what way we go.
“We’ve been in this position before and it’s next man in. We will back JJ to be ready, I’m definitely not going to risk him because of the importance of this game. We’re really hopeful that he will be ready and, if not, really excited to see Ben and Rory.”
Van Graan admitted that playing in Paris would be a huge step up for Healy, who has just one senior Munster appearance to his name, but the head coach pointed out that the Tipperary native has been with the senior squad throughout recent weeks.
Asked whether Healy or Scannell would be more suited to running a game from out-half on Racing’s fast-track 4G pitch at the indoor Paris La Défense Arena, van Graan pointed to the qualities of both players.
“There’s no definite answer on that,” said the Munster boss. “I think both are different types of players. I don’t want to speculate on it too much because hopefully we’ll have JJ.
“I think Ben’s strong point is his kicking game and his game management. We play indoors in a totally different environment than we’ve got currently out here [in Limerick]. The ball does travel a bit further, the ball is drier so that brings it into it.
“Rory is a left-footer and also he’s played 10 before, he knows the squad very well and he’s been in and around this team for a very long time. Two totally different players and we’ll make our decisions, if we have to, based on what’s the best for the team on Sunday.”
