Cullen happy to offer 'quality' Joey Carbery a chance to impress against former side Munster

Joey Carbery during a Leinster Rugby squad training session at UCD in Dublin. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

After handing him a brief cameo role against Clermont Auvergne last weekend, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is more than happy to offer ‘quality footballer’ Joey Carbery a chance to impress from the start against his former side Munster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Despite amassing 101 points across 37 senior appearances, Carbery subsequently departed Leinster for a much-discussed move to arch rivals Munster in 2018. While he endured his fair share of injury frustration, he did manage to pick up 66 caps for his adopted province over a six-year period and registered a scoring haul of 507 points.

Now back at Leinster in the wake of a two-season spell with Bordeaux Begles, Carbery enjoyed his first outing with the eastern province in more than eight years as a 73rd minute replacement in their European Champions Cup win over Clermont last Saturday.

Cullen had previously hoped to get him back involved for the United Rugby Championship round two showdown with the Sharks in Durban on October 3, but he is optimistic Carbery is fully up to speed for an out-half berth against Munster in the same competition this weekend.

“He's a quality footballer, so hopefully you see his skills that he has come to the fore. He's been excellent since he's come back in. He's training a good chunk of time now and we'd actually hoped he was going to be involved in round two,” Cullen remarked.

“Sam [Prendergast] was supposed to come back in round three anyway, but that's just the way it played out. Joey didn't quite make it through the week that week.

Carbery during the Investec Champions Cup Round 1 match between ASM Clermont Auvergne and Leinster. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

“He was up and running last week and that was positive. Now he's starting his first game, which is great. He's been great in terms of training, but again, he just needs to get started in terms of his first start.” 

Although Cullen was eager to get Carbery back into the number 10 jersey, his inclusion for tomorrow’s game is partly due to Sam Prendergast being ruled out with a wrist injury. Elsewhere in the back line, Jamie Osborne is drafted in at outside centre to replace Garry Ringrose, who misses out because of a hamstring issue.

This could cast doubt over the availability of Prendergast and Ringrose for Ireland’s forthcoming international against Argentina on November 6, but Cullen was uncertain how long either player might be sidelined for.

Aside from the selection of Carbery and Osborne, the big teams new for Leinster is that Dan Sheehan will captain the side from the unfamiliar position of No 8. Ordinarily in competition for a starting spot at hooker with Rónan Kelleher from both a Leinster and Ireland perspective, Sheehan will instead pack down in the same scrum as the former St Michael’s College student.

The injury to Jack Conan in last Saturday’s win over Clermont – as well as the continued absence of club captain Caelan Doris – has led in some way to Sheehan being transferred to the back-row. Yet as Cullen explains, this is an experiment the Leinster coaches had been looking to put into practice for a while.

“We've tried it a little bit last season. Jack obviously dislocated his shoulder at the weekend, so he's going to have an op on that. That's the first bit. We're blessed with Rónan and Dan and even with Gus McCarthy and Stevie Smith there as well coming through,” Cullen added.

“It's very early in the season still, so it's worthwhile us trying some things. We've been discussing it for quite some time at the back of last season and there was an opportunity to try it this weekend.”