IT’S ALL RIGHT.. AT LAST, JACK

IT was only a few minutes of game time but coming on for Johnny Sexton meant everything to Jack Carty and his family.

A year ago, around this time, Carty’s close cousin Brian passed away at the age of 28. The

Connacht out-half was proud to dedicate his debut Test cap to him.

“Before he passed away, he would have said, ‘Don’t have any regrets or anything like that’,” Carty explained.

“That’s something that’s spurred me on. It’s been a tough time for his family and my family. I’m delighted that I can dedicate this cap to him.

“I’ve been working a long, long time for it and I’m delighted to finally get the monkey off the back and get a cap at long last.”

The family were there in force for him at the Stadio Olimpico.

“I have seven in my family, so two sisters, two brothers, my parents, my niece, my brother-in-law, my girlfriend and my sister’s boyfriend,” smiled Carty.

“Then I’d four mates from Athlone coming over, so I’m delighted to get a few minutes for all the work they’ve done and all the support they’ve given me over the years.”

When he didn’t get the nod to go on Ireland’s 2017 summer tour to the US and Japan, the 25-year-old wondered if his chance would ever come.

“I had thought I was on standby for that and Joey (Carbery) got injured when they were over there, I thought I was going to get called in and I didn’t.

“It was a thing in the last 11, 12 months where I put my head down. I didn’t want it to be ‘what if?’ scenario.”

Joe Schmidt was impressed by the change he saw in Carty in that period and he made the extended

Six Nations squad for this year’s championship.

He puts much of his improvement down to the environment in Connacht.

And now with Ireland? “It’s been a really steep learning curve, trying to learn all the plays and a new sort of system,” said Carty.

“It looks quite similar but the way I’d be used to playing, it’s a bit different.”