This left-field solution could be the best option for Joey Carbery

Alan Loughnane

It’s worth thinking about…

This week on The Hard Yards, host Andy McGeady and SportsJOE reporter Pat McCarry were joined by James Downey and Bernard Jackman to discuss the weekend’s games and look ahead at the PRO 14 final.

In the final segment of the show, the panel took some fan questions to from social media and one of those was about Joey Carbery and the choice ahead of him.

You can listen from the 59.00 minute mark below.

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A listener posed an interesting scenario that saw Carbery heading to Munster next season and Keatley heading north to play for Ulster and “nurture” promising outhalf Johnny McPhillips over the next couple of seasons.

The bonus here would be Carbery and Conor Murray getting game-time together as Munster’s 9-10 axis, which would in turn benefit Ireland.

“There is a value in this instance [a Carbery move] because you’ve got a guy who is the back-up 10 for Ireland getting very limited game time at 10 for his province,” said Jackman.

“Munster would have Keats and JJ… but their problem is that Tyler Bleyendaal is so injury prone. JJ started at the weekend but he hasn’t had a clear run at 10. It’s always worth talking about it, though.

“The fact that the IRFU seem to have made a decision that it would be best for Joey to move means that it’s not pie in the sky. It’s a valid discussion. I can understand why Leinster would not like to lose him. If Johnny was injured, they’d have two very good 10s in Joey and Ross. Leinster will feel that they developed them. It’s an emotional one for everyone involved.

“Connacht would not have wanted to lose John Cooney. They would have preferred to have had two quality 9s [in him and Kieran Marmion] but it’s about standing back, taking the emotion away and deciding what’s going to best serve the player and best serve the country.”

Interestingly, Jackman feels Ulster will end up with ‘a foreign 10’ next season as Carbery would be off on Ireland duty for large tracts of the season especially as there is a World Cup on the horizon.