Deep down, Luke Carty knew the writing was on the wall, but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach when the call eventually came.
He had spent several years in the Connacht set-up without making a senior appearance, his path to the first team blocked by other out-halves, including his older brother Jack. Luke wasn’t the first Carty sibling to get let go by Connacht, his other older brother Ben, a centre, had been cut loose before him.
Around the same time Luke was beginning to realise his dream of making it with his home province wasn’t about to materialise, Jack had been basking in having made Ireland’s World Cup squad.
But when Jack returned from Japan a couple of months later, he was still coming to terms with having unfairly been made the fall guy for Ireland’s shock pool defeat to the hosts. You can imagine the devastation that ripped through the Carty house then, as both Luke and Jack dealt with crushing lows.
Eighteen months on, the dark clouds have parted. Jack has bounced back from his difficult setback, while Luke has made it to the international stage.
This evening at the Aviva Stadium, Luke will start for his adopted nation, the USA, against Ireland, eager to silence his doubters.
“I don’t think anyone wouldn’t have a little bit of, ‘I want to prove you wrong,’” Carty admits. “But it’s more so to maybe prove to myself that I was right to pursue this and right to keep going after it.
“It would have been unreal to get a pro cap with Connacht. I dreamt of that as a kid. But I don’t really look back on it that much. Everything happens for a reason.
“I found out, I sulked and moaned and felt sorry for myself for a few weeks, but then I got over it and thought, ‘Well, I can either sit here feeling sorry for myself or take what the criticisms and get better.’ But it was disappointing.”
Getting that unwanted news from Connacht was the start of a luckless run for Carty, who by the end of it, was ready to give up on his dream.
Having signed up to do a master’s, Carty figured he’d go back to his local club Buccaneers and help them climb up the All-Ireland League (AIL) ranks.
“Jack went to the World Cup and Ben had been in the sub-academy but didn’t get kept on,” Carty recalls.
“It was good to have two sides of the coin. When Ben got let go, it was tough, but it was good to have people to see it from a different perspective.
“I was there in the middle. I was very disappointed, but it was great to have both of them there. Obviously Jack has been through it all and has had disappointments in his career.”
Having two older brothers to lean on when times got tough certainly helped, even if it wasn’t always so easy being the youngest. “Ben used to beat the two of us up,” Carty laughs. “Myself and Jack hate to say it, but Ben was the biggest out of the lot of us. I used to get the brunt of it. We had a trampoline, I spent hours getting the head taken off me.
“It was good craic when we were younger. I always remember the three of us beating the heads off each other playing rugby, soccer or Gaelic football out the back garden.”
Connacht head coach Andy Friend had set Carty up with a club based in Sydney, but Covid-19 put a swift end to that when his visa was cancelled.
Luke Carty never featured for the Connacht first team during his time at his home province. SPORTSFILE
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Then there was a proposed move to the English Championship, which also fell through due to issues arising from the pandemic. Carty began to think things just weren’t meant to be.
“I was going to play club rugby with Buccaneers, help them get back up a few divisions,” the 23-year-old says.
“Then I changed my mind after a few months of sitting at home. I got on to my agent Keith Matthews (ex-Connacht centre) to throw the net out and see what came back. Keith got on to people who needed an American-qualified 10 and within a few days, the coach from the team in Sydney I was supposed to go to, got on to me, Gary Gold (USA head coach) was on to me and it just went from there pretty quickly.”
Carty qualifies for the USA through his dad Ted’s mother Joan, who was born in New York, while Luke’s mother Susan has lots of close family living in the Big Apple and Virginia. As youngsters, Luke and his brothers Jack and Ben, as well as their older sisters, Aoife and Deirdre, would regularly holiday in the States, so the connection was always there.
When the LA Giltinis offered him a contract, Carty jumped at the opportunity to reignite his career in Major League Rugby.
Playing alongside Australian legends Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper in Los Angeles is a world away from the slog that is the AIL, but Carty is taking it all in his stride. The USA Eagles soon came calling and having made an impressive debut at Twickenham last weekend, Carty is bracing himself for what will be an emotional encounter with several former Connacht team-mates in Dublin this evening.
“A year ago, if you had told me the scenario that has played out, I probably would have said you were lying to me,” the Athlone native admits.
“It just all seemed to fall into my place for once. There are a lot of lads I played club rugby against or provincial underage against. And then some lads I played and trained with everyday.
“I’m sure it will be a strange experience, but I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be singing the American national anthem anyway!”
Having a fellow Irishman in the current squad has helped Carty settle in, even if Aran Islands native Paul Mullen hasn’t been shy in reminding him about last weekend’s Connacht senior football semi-final result.
“Myself and Paul are actually rooming together, which is good craic,” Carty smiles. “Who knew a fella from Athlone and the Aran Islands would be rooming together for the United States before playing Ireland! It’s good to have someone to talk football with. Obviously Roscommon lost to Galway last weekend, so he has been rubbing it in.”
The only thing that would make tonight’s occasion even more special was if Jack was lining out for Ireland in the opposite No 10 jersey, but nevertheless, he will be watching on from the stand alongside the Carty clan.
For Luke, it’s about relishing the journey, and while he would love to get another crack back home, with the World Cup just over two years away he knows this is a huge opportunity.
“I didn’t really plan for any of this to happen,” Carty adds. “I was going to be stuck in the books doing a master’s. I’m just trying to keep my two feet on the ground. Obviously the World Cup is the carrot at the end of it all. I would love to get to go to that.”
THE LOWDOWN ON USA . . .
How to beat them
Ireland have picked a mobile pack littered with explosive potential, particularly in what is an extremely dynamic back-row. The hosts will look to dominate the set-piece and get their pacy wide men involved in the play as often as possible. A strong start will dent USA’s confidence, and from there Ireland can kick on and finish the season on a high.
How they beat you
USA ran a much-changed England team close last weekend after Eddie Jones’ men took their eye off the ball. If a similarly inexperienced Ireland side do the same thing tonight, the visitors can make life tricky. Out-half Luke Carty will hope to get front-foot ball to get his back-line moving.
Key player: Paul Mullen
If the Eagles are to have any hope of causing a major upset, their pack must front up. Aran Islands native Paul Mullen has taken the road less travelled to get to the international stage, but the former Munster and Ireland underage tighthead has been around the scene for a few years now. The 29-year-old’s scrum battle with Dave Kilcoyne will be interesting to watch.