Carbery: Don’t rule me out of Six Nations start
AFTER returning to on-pitch training with Leinster this week, Joey Carbery has revealed that he is confident of being available for selection for Ireland’s Six Nations opener against France. Carbery has been out of action since fracturing his wrist in Ireland’s November international defeat of Fiji, but speaking yesterday the Leinster star admitted he is aiming to be available for the February 3 clash in Paris. ‘Yeah, hopefully anyway. Even maybe the last European game [with Leinster] but I’m not too sure because you never know how tomorrow goes. Fingers crossed anyway,’ said Carbery. ‘It’s feeling pretty good, I’m back on the pitch this week. I’m not too sure about when I’ll be back playing but hopefully in the next few weeks. ‘It’s just out of the splint and the cast so it hasn’t had any mobility really — it’s pretty stiff at the moment. ‘They said over the next few days it should loosen out a good bit.’ Carbery is not available for Leinster’s Pro14 clash with Ulster on Saturday, but even if he has to sit out the Champions Cup games against Glasgow (January 14) and Montpellier (20), the 22-year-old believes that getting a good run out in Ireland’s Carton House training camp would be enough to get him up to speed in time for the French game. ‘I’d like maybe a week or two of training under my belt, that week before the first Six Nations game would be a good time to get a load under my belt as well. ‘It’s probably an annoying time to get injured but hopefully now I’m on the flipside of it and can remain injury free for the next year or two.’