‘Tough’ Carbery is only now getting back to his best form

This pitch was once Joey Carbery’s playground, yet when he last visited the schoolyard bullies were keen to remind him that leaving wasn’t a good idea.

The Guinness PRO14 final was only the out-half’s second start since his year-long hiatus and it was several steps up in terms of intensity as he went from nice run-outs while the internationals were away to the full force of Leinster’s international contingent.

At one point in the first-half of that game, Carbery failed to lay a glove on Robbie Henshaw who was deliberately sent down his channel. He’d barely dusted himself down before Scott Fardy took the direct route and ran all over him. 

In that game last month, the 25-year-old looked a pale shadow of his former self, but Munster have been patient with him ever since he came back crocked from the World Cup.

It didn’t help that he was operating behind a pack which was truly destroyed in the final, whereas on Saturday Munster were rampant at the breakdown and winning collisions against a shadow Leinster side.

And, while he wasn’t perfect, the Athy man showed signs that the time and space he’s been given by Johann van Graan is starting to pay off.

Up in the stands, Andy Farrell and Mike Catt watched on.

The summer tour to Fiji hasn’t been confirmed, but after two seasons when they haven’t been able to pick him you can bet that Carbery will be making the plane if it gets the green light.

There was a brief scare when Carbery stayed down after a challenge and got up gingerly to be attended to by the Munster medics who have worked so hard to get that ankle right.

It is impossible to protect any player in this physical game, but every time the out-half goes down you fear the worst. 

However, his coach has full faith in his recovery.

“No, actually not,” Van Graan said when asked if his heart was in his mouth. “His ankle has been perfect and he’s done really well, so no, not really. I didn’t actually think too much about that.

“We’re really happy about his progression, we’ll keep progressing him.

“This was the sixth game, so he’ll just keep getting better and better. He nailed some important kicks tonight and he had some big moments, and I thought defensively he made a few very good hits tonight.”

Catt and Farrell hoped to get two for the price of one. 

In terms of attacking vision, running threat and passing range, Harry Byrne is the closest thing Ireland have to Carbery and a combination of Johnny Sexton’s latest head injury and the need to rest his brother Ross ahead of next Sunday’s clash with La Rochelle meant he got his chance.

The last time Byrne was picked for a match of this status, he pulled a back muscle in the warm-up against Northampton.

Here, he strained his hamstring racing back to tackle Conor Murray who was in the act of scoring Munster’s first try.

Had fate not intervened, Ciarán Frawley would have had 75 minutes to impress. Many believe the Skerries native is the next big thing, but he’d hurt his own hamstring on the eve of the game, so it was David Hawkshaw who came into the fray.

The former Dublin minor hurler has yet to start a game for the province and is in his first full season after his own harrowing injury issues. 

Saturday was the longest period he’s been on the pitch in the senior team and he spent it behind a beaten pack. It was a tough experience, but one that will stand to him. No doubt Carbery could empathise.

Instead, Carbery will be looking forward to the next couple of weeks with relish and his incremental improvements will have Munster fans purring.

Take, for example, Murray’s try when Peter O’Mahony stripped the ball from the hapless Hugh O’Sullivan’s grasp and then Tadhg Beirne moved the ball to his partner.

So often this season Munster and Ireland have looked clueless on turnover ball and when Carbery shaped to kick the chance could have gone.

However, he had the speed of thought to read the situation and instead he spotted that tighthead prop Andrew Porter was standing inside Scott Penny so he gave the ball to Damian de Allende and the World Cup-winning Springbok did the rest.

In Munster’s previous meetings with Leinster, their goal-kicking has let them down at pivotal moments. In the PRO14 semi-final of last August and this year’s January derby, JJ Hanrahan erred when his team needed to build scoreboard pressure, but when the opportunities presented themselves on Saturday Carbery nailed them.

His line-kicking was good, his restarts on point and, while Munster will feel their attack still has plenty of room to grow, he generally took the right options.

While he missed four of the 11 tackles he attempted, Van Graan was happy with the way he kept fronting up. 

“One thing I’ll say about Joey is he is tough,” he said. “He got knocked down a few times over the last few weeks but he stood up every single time.”

Even if they’re missing most of their first-teamers, beating Leinster at home is a big thing for this Munster side and the strange format of this short and sharp tournament means they may now have a window to claim a trophy on home soil if they keep winning their games.

With Carbery back on board and hitting his straps, there may even be scope to include RG Snyman soon with Ulster up next on Friday week and Connacht coming to Limerick a week later.

“We’ll just take RG week by week,” Van Graan said. “He hasn’t done any team training yet. He’s done a few small puzzles, if I can call it that, like making a tackle. He hasn’t even jumped in a team lineout.

“We’re really looking forward to getting him playing. We haven’t had him now for what, eight months?

“As soon as he is ready and fit enough to play we will put him on the pitch, but I wouldn’t want to speculate on him at this stage for the Ulster or Connacht games.

“We’ve got two weeks and we’ll make a decision then.”

Snyman was signed to provide Munster’s exciting backline with go-forward ball. 

Without him, they monstered Leinster’s breakdown on Saturday in the RDS and that’s the standard they’ll need to keep to in order to claim the Rainbow Cup.

It wasn’t the prize they set out for in September, but it’s all they’ve left to fight for and this win puts them in a good position.