Impressing in Brisbane will stand Carbery in good stead
WHATEVER happens in the next two weeks in Australia, Saturday’s opening Test was a significant investment in the future of Joey Carbery.
By no means did the Athy man light things up on his first big start on the international stage, but his measured performance was an encouraging start for a player who remains just 22 and has limited professional experience in his preferred position of out-half.
Certainly the Wallabies were impressed with the Munster-bound No.10, while his team-mates have been positive about his contribution.
Sure, it wasn’t perfect. One shot at goal was well off target, while his passing was not as accurate as it might have been at times, but overall the youngster’s decision making was good, while he executed well under pressure.
Everything Ireland did in Brisbane was met with ferocious resistance, and Carbery knew all about it when he executed a wraparound on Jack McGrath and got smashed by Michael Hooper for his trouble.
It was reminiscent of the tackle he endured against Fiji which left him with a broken wrist, but thankfully this time he picked himself up and carried on.
Michael Cheika was effusive in his praise.
“He’s outstanding. He’s a star,” the Wallaby coach said.
“I went up to Carbery after the game, because I’ve never met him before, and said, ‘I love your work!’ That guy, he can play footy. He’s an outstanding player.”
Joe Schmidt is not one to shower anyone with undue praise but, while he saw room for improvement, the Ireland supremo was pleased with Carbery’s overall contribution during his hour on the pitch.
And, while Johnny Sexton is set to come back into the team for Saturday’s second Test, you sense that the coach will be happier utilising his back-up when needed after his performance in Brisbane.
“He was pretty solid,” Schmidt said. “He came off the field at 9-8, that’s not a bad return for a young man who’s really starting his first big tier one Test match and he put a lot of work into his preparation during the week.
“He’ll be disappointed that he didn’t get that kick because it was a reasonably comfortable angle and that could have just given us a little bit of a comfort zone and applied a little bit more pressure to the Wallabies.
“But I thought his tackle quality was good and his distribution was generally good. He put a few guys into a little bit of space. He missed a couple of passes due to that pressure of time.”
For Carbery himself, there was a quiet satisfaction in how things went despite the result ending up in Australia’s favour and happiness that he came through it unscathed and available for the second Test.
“I felt it went well,” he said.
“Obviously it was a disappointing result but I was delighted to have got the opportunity and get some minutes under my belt.
“The missed kick was annoying but I was happy with how it went, and happy to come off injury free.
“It was my first game not coming off injured playing No.10. Third time lucky.
“I loved it. I was obviously a bit nervous before but once the first whistle goes you’ve got to do your job and I love being out there and love having the opportunity to have a go.”
Since being sent on to close out the win against New Zealand in 2016, Carbery has been developing in the public eye.
His lack of recent game time in his chosen position is a big factor in his decision to make
the move to Munster, but the players are already seeing evidence that he has what it takes.
CJ Stander said of the outhalf: “He’s very calm. He’s calm to the bone.
“I don’t know if his missus puts him under pressure sometimes, but I know nothing gets under his skin that I can see anyway.
“It would be nice to see in other parts of his life that people put him under pressure, but he’s never under pressure (on the pitch).
“In Chicago, when he came onto the pitch, there was no change. It was a change in personnel, but not in what we were doing and where we were going.
“From that day on, training-wise, every time he’s somebody who tells me where to go, what to do; he bosses the play.
“It’s something he’s probably learned from players he’s played with, something he has in himself.”
From a forward’s perspective, there is security in seeing your playmaker bounce back from a big hit and carry on.
“He’s a physical man in stature, he takes bigger knocks than me sometimes and gets up, and I go, ‘That’s impressive’,” Stander said. “For him to do that and still perform at the end of it... he’s a good player.”
This week, Carbery will likely slip back into the supporting cast as Sexton resumes his role as the main man.
Injury permitting, he’ll get another shot in November having got used to life in Munster, and his display last Saturday will help ease Schmidt’s mind the next time he has to do without Sexton.
He’s not the finished article, but Brisbane will stand to a young man on the up.
CJ STANDER believes Ireland were in need of a wake-up call at the end of their unbeaten season.
And the Munster ace is expecting a response from the Grand Slam winners as they look to level the Test series against Australia in Melbourne on Saturday.
He says significant improvements are needed against a Wallabies side who put the tourists under severe pressure in the Brisbane opener last weekend.
But, having received the shock of a first defeat in 13 matches, the No.8 is determined to turn things around.
“We’ve had a great campaign and we’re not used to losing, so maybe it’s something we needed,” said Stander (above).
“It would be great to end the series with a win and go on holiday with that, but we need to be a lot better to get there.
“It’s something (losing) we haven’t felt in a long time. At some stages we weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be. Australia took their chances and converted them into points, we didn’t.
“We know we can fix the small things and when we fix them we can get to the level we were at in the Six Nations.”
Joe Schmidt is expected to make changes, with Keith Earls the sole injury doubt.
Johnny Sexton is likely to lead the backline, with Tadhg Furlong and Cian Healy tipped to come back into the front-row, and Dan Leavy and Garry Ringrose are also in contention.
SOUTH Africa have sprung a surprise by calling up Schalk Brits for the remainder of their series against England — a fortnight after he had retired.
Brits attended the first Test in Johannesburg as a fan having played what was intended to be his final game of rugby when Saracens were crowned Aviva Premiership champions at Twickenham last month.
But with Springbok hookers Malcolm Marx and Bismarck du Plessis injured, the 37-year-old has agreed to join the squad in Bloemfontein and could be set to add to his 10 caps at Free State Stadium on Saturday.
“We’ll definitely consider him for the matchday 23 for the next two games. He’s not here just to be a ‘coach’,” said South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus, whose side won the opening Test 42-39.
“We are going to try some new things and we are going to encourage a new way of thinking. We want players to learn from guys like Schalk.
“Schalk is in the same category as Bismarck in terms of experience. He knows a lot of English players well as he played against them in the Premiership.
“We can only learn from him — specifically at the scrums, lineouts and in terms of individual players.”
Brits is a popular figure in England where his dynamism and skill have lit up the Premiership, his lack of size for a modern hooker offset by his brilliance with the ball in hand.
His last Test appearance came three years ago, with his opportunities for the Springboks limited by the presence of John Smit and Du Plessis.
Erasmus also refused to rule out Brits’ presence in the upcoming Rugby Championship campaign. IF YOU have an interest in rugby and were prone to browsing social media in 2014, chances are you’ve seen footage of Taniela Tupou before.
On Saturday, the tighthead prop came off the bench to win his second cap for the Wallabies and made a mark by helping to win the scrum penalty that turned the game in their favour.
But it is not the Tonga-born 22-year-old’s set-piece abilities that made him a teenage viral sensation.
Instead, it was the outrageous broken-field running that caught the eye as he lined out for Sacred Heart College of Auckland in New Zealand schools rugby.
Tupou’s rare blend of size, speed and skills made him a standout in a crowded field and a hat-trick on his 18th birthday attracted thousands of viewers.
“I was 18, (weighed) 142kg or 144kg and was running over little skinny, white boys,” he recalled with a giggle on a recent appearance on Australian television.
Online admiration wasn’t the only interest the ‘Tongan Thor’ was attracting.
New Zealand tried to get him to commit to their system, with Super Rugby sides offering senior contracts, while the big-spending French and English clubs also came in with offers.
However, Tupou’s older brother Criff lived in Queensland and the green and gold of Australia was always the biggest draw.
“Growing up in Tonga I always watched the Wallabies, but I never thought I’d be able to play for them,” he recalled.
“I went to New Zealand, but in the back of my mind I always wanted to go to Australia.”
In the end, he signed for Queensland Reds. Steadily, the scrummaging has come on and that has allowed him to start cutting loose at Super Rugby level.
Now, Michael Cheika has him in his plans for the next World Cup, and his impact against Ireland last weekend suggests he will have a big role in this series.
Experienced prop Sekope Kepu said of the young gun: “He has got a lot of energy. He is involved a lot in the laughing, the stuff that goes on off the field, but he is pretty focused.
“Whenever he performs roles,