It’s full speed ahead for Joey
JOEY CARBERY says he will play full-back for the next four years if Leinster ask him to, and insists he has no intention of following Jordi Murphy out of the province.
Murphy yesterday announced his decision to join Ulster on a two-year deal at the end of the current season, having found himself on the fringes of a congested back row.
But while Carbery is behind Johnny Sexton at both provincial and national level in his preferred position of out-half, and stuck at full-back for most of the last year at Leinster, he has no intention of leaving.
Former Ireland head coach Eddie O’Sullivan said last month that the 22-year-old should seek a move to a club that would allow him to develop as an out-half, but the New Zealand-born player brushed off that suggestion.
‘I didn’t think too much of it to be honest, the opinions that really count are in the [Leinster] environment and I think it’s the best environment to be learning in, behind Johnny and Rob [Kearney]. I think I’m learning as much as I can in Leinster as I would anywhere.
‘I like to split between out-half and full-back but if Leinster need me at 15 for the next three or four years I am more than willing to do it.’
Carbery and Murphy both started against Fiji last month, and the younger of the two understands why Murphy, 26, needed to move to ensure he keeps his place in the international setup.
‘I can understand where he is coming from, if you are playing week in, week out then that is how you get better and that is how you are going to be seen so it makes sense for both parties, I suppose, what’s happening,” he said.
‘Leinster’s academy is renowned for getting players through so it is good for Irish rugby if there are young good players coming through and playing.
‘If Leinster need you and they are playing you then that’s the best thing but it comes down to game time. If you are getting game time in Leinster or not then that is when you probably need to decide.’
Carbery is currently out of action with a broken wrist, and he faces a race against time to be ready for the Six Nations in February, after admitting that he has no real idea how his arm has healed until the cast is removed in the new year.
‘Once I get out of this cast I am going to be in a splint, then it all depends on how well it has healed so it could be another eight weeks from the day I get the cast off or it could be three weeks. It’s just how it heals. I hope it’s quickly because it is pretty annoying at the moment,’ he said.
‘I’d love to get two or three games before the Six Nations so I can really get back into the run of it.’ * Joey Carbery is an ambassador for Europcar Ireland and was on
hand today to promote the Europcar Privilege Programme. For more see www.europcar.
com/loyalty-programs