Old teammate, new threat: Joey Carbery adds some spice to Munster quarter-final

“Joey will know us inside out. He’s worked with pretty much everyone in the building," said Munster defence coach Denis Leamy. 

Joey Carbery made his 12th start of the season for Bordeaux-Begles in their Champions Cup last-16 victory over Ulster. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

The problem with reunions is the baggage that comes with them and Denis Leamy knows Joey Carbery will bring an awful lot of knowledge from his six years at Munster to Bordeaux-Begles’ table ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final.

Carbery left the province and hopes of an Ireland recall in search of a fresh opportunity last summer and looks to have been rewarded in spades with more game time as the fulcrum of one of club rugby’s most exciting backlines than many imagined he would get in a squad featuring Matthieu Jalibert as a positional rival.

Carbery kicked off last Sunday’s 43-31 Round of 16 victory over Ulster at Stade Chaban-Delmas in his 12th start of the season and was one of Bordeaux’s standout performers in the 46 minutes he spent on the pitch before making way for Jalibert. With four conversions kicked for a perfect display off the tee and a wonderful pick up and turn of pace to spark a scintillating fourth try just before half-time, Carbery showed he is thriving at the Top 14 club.

Whether he or Jalibert starts against Munster on Saturday remains to be seen yet it is the fly-half’s Munster experience that could be just as impactful, as defence coach Leamy warned on Tuesday, though he dismissed the notion their former playmaker had been a topic of conversation at the High Performance Centre so far this week.

“Do you know what, we haven’t spoken about it at all, I’ll be honest with you,” Leamy said. “I think we’ve just got to focus on ourselves.

“Joey will know us inside out. He’s worked with pretty much everyone in the building so he’ll have a good idea of what we’re trying to do but ultimately we’ll just have to put our best foot forward and do it really, really well, and hope that that’s good enough.” 

Munster did not want to lose Carbery when his contract expired last summer, having lost possession of the number 10 jersey to Jack Crowley and Leamy has not been surprised to see his former charge become a success at his new club.

“Joey’s a top-class player and we were sad to see him go, he’s definitely a loss to the building here. Look, when guys want to go and seek other opportunities and sample a different culture etc, you just wish them the best.

“Everybody’s pleased for Joey and how it’s going for him and hopefully he has a very successful season, domestically, just not on Saturday.” 

The defence coach is also acutely aware of the firepower in the Bordeaux backline, regardless of who plays 10 outside scrum-half Maxime Lucu. A potential midfield of Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Yoram Moefana packs a heavy punch and their likely back-three of a rested Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damien Penaud and full-back Romain Buros is perhaps the most exciting in club rugby.

“Their ability is incredible. Certainly before Christmas they looked like favourites for the competition and I think that probably hasn’t changed a whole lot. Leinster did an amazing thing in Dublin on Saturday and you’d have to say they’re incredibly well positioned to win it as well but Bordeaux pre-Christmas were awesome in some of the rugby they were playing and, again, you saw it in glimpses against Ulster; just their ability, their raw power, their speed and they’ve got x-factor players. Lucu controls the game so well. Yeah, they’ve just got quality right across the pitch.” 

Munster look set to be without loosehead prop Jeremy Loughman for the trip to Bordeaux after the Ireland international came off injured just 12 minutes into last Saturday’s game at Stade Marcel-Delfandre.

“It’s a hamstring,” Leamy said. “Jeremy did his hamstring in a scrum the other day unfortunately. That’s about all we know at this point.” Josh Wycherley, Loughman’s replacement against La Rochelle, is primed to start his first European match since Munster’s last Champions Cup quarter-final, the goal-kicking shootout loss to Toulouse at Aviva Stadium in May 2022. With Dave Kilcoyne still ruled out through injury, John Ryan may be asked to cover loosehead from the bench though Kieran Ryan and Mark Donnelly offer alternative options.

Loughman’s absence would be the only fresh injury setback in recent weeks, with Munster having been buoyed in the past fortnight by returns from the treatment table for back-three summer signing Thaakir Abrahams, scrum-half Craig Casey, lock Jean Kleyn, and tighthead prop Oli Jager while the reintegration of Ireland frontliners post-Six Nations has also boosted Munster performance levels.

“It’s a really huge lift. Obviously the boys coming back are very experienced. These are guys who have played an awful lot of international rugby and just to have them back, that calming effect, their ability as players and individuals, but also what they bring to the group.

“So, you can’t under-estimate the returning players and what they’ve given to the group.”