Most people mark their 21st birthday with a party but for Joey Carbery, who will reach that milestone by the time that the flight carrying the Ireland squad lands in Chicago’s O’Hare airport in the early hours of Tuesday morning Irish time, his celebration could involve a first senior cap.
Paddy Jackson’s withdrawal from the travelling party means that Carbery is likely to understudy Jonathan Sexton for the Test match against New Zealand at Soldier Field on Saturday (8.0pm Irish time).
It heralds a remarkable few months for the New Zealand-born outhalf, who moved to Athy at the age of 11, playing club rugby locally before finishing his final year of secondary schooling at Blackrock College and claiming a Leinster Schools Senior Cup winners’ medal.
Carbery joined the Leinster academy, UCD and the Ireland Under-20 squad, initially understudying Ross Byrne at Belfield and in the national underage side. A back injury sustained by Byrne ahead of the 2015 U20 World Junior Championship saw Carbery travel as first-choice outhalf.
Last season Carbery made the decision to play his club rugby with Clontarf rather than UCD so as to have an opportunity to play in his preferred outhalf role. The two clubs met in the Ulster Bank League Division 1A semi-final at Castle Avenue with Byrne and Carbery in direct opposition.
Clontarf prevailed and Carbery went on to produce a man-of-the-match performance in a final victory over Cork Constitution. It’s hard to credit that prior to four months ago he had managed just four minutes in a Leinster jersey, when coming on as a replacement against Glasgow Warriors.
He scored two tries in his first start for Leo Cullen’s team against Benetton Treviso in a Guinness Pro12 match, enjoyed a first Champions Cup match against Castres Olympique and in his nine appearances this season has played with a flair and maturity that marked him as an outstanding prospect.
Meteoric is probably an apt description of his rugby pathway this season. Prior to Jackson’s unfortunate withdrawal, Carbery might have expected to start on the bench for Ireland against Canada at the Aviva stadium on Saturday week. There would be a touch of serendipity if he were to make his debut against the All Blacks.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt will be hoping that the hamstring niggle that has affected Sexton of late doesn’t resurface; for all Carbery’s aptitude playing against a New Zealand side looking to extend a Tier One world record 18 Test match winning streak is a ridiculously tough remit.
Schmidt is bringing 27 players to Chicago including four other uncapped players in centre,Garry Ringrose, scrumhalf Luke McGrath, tighthead prop John Ryan and secondrow Billy Holland.
The absence of Ulster’s Luke Marshall, who played two Tests for Ireland against South Africa during the summer, in the pared down squad, suggests that Ringrose is edging closer to a debut in the centre on Saturday alongside Robbie Henshaw. The alternative is to play Jared Payne in the 13 jersey with Rob Kearney at fullback.
Carbery will start on the bench, McGrath will battle Kieran Marmion for the back-up scrumhalf slot behind Conor Murray while John Ryan could also make the matchday 23 if Finlay Bealham (head injury) is ruled out. Tadgh Furlong is expected to be fine after missing a couple of games with a hamstring strain.
Ulster secondrow cum flanker Iain Henderson did not travel as expected instead looking to rehabilitate a shoulder injury that forced him to come off at halftime during his team’s European victory over the Exeter Chiefs 10 days ago. The initial medical prognosis was two to four weeks.
Munster captain Peter O’Mahony and Leinster’s Seán O’Brien have also been omitted from the travelling party. They have both made excellent progress following long-term injuries, accumulating game time but also match sharpness. Both will be strong contenders to face New Zealand when the sides meet for a second time at the Aviva stadium on Saturday November 12th.
The Ireland team trained at Carton House on Monday morning prior to catching their flight to Chicago in the afternoon. They will train again on Thursday morning ahead of the team announcement for Saturday’s game.
IRELAND SQUAD (*denotes uncapped players)
BACKS (12)
Joey Carbery (Leinster)*, Craig Gilroy (Ulster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Rob Kearney (Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Connacht), Luke McGrath (Leinster)*, Conor Murray (Munster), Jared Payne (Ulster), Garry Ringrose (Leinster)*, Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Simon Zebo (Munster)
FORWARDS (15)
Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Rory Best (Ulster, captain), Seán Cronin (Leinster), Ultan Dillane (Connacht), Tadgh Furlong (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Billy Holland (Munster)*, Jack McGrath (Leinster), Jordi Murphy (Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Munster), John Ryan (Munster)*, CJ Stander (Munster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster).
