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Furious Leinster fans take to Twitter as province confirm Carbery's Munster move

By Ian Cameron
Joey Carbury

As first revealed this morning on RugbyPass, Leinster have confirmed that Joey Carbery is to switch the provincial rivals Munster.

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The official confirmation was largely greeted with dismay and anger from Leinster fans on Twitter.

Many Leinster fans wanted the talented flyhalf to stay at the province despite mostly appearing for the European Champions from the bench throughout the season. However, the IRFU were clear that they wanted to push through the move to allow Carbery to get regular starting game time at a big club side.

For weeks any move was meant to be north to Ulster, but it appears that the IRFU have found a secondary path that will see Carbery instead travel south to Leinster’s traditional rivals Munster.

RugbyPass reported last month that the IRFU wanted to work a switch deal that would see a Munster player travel to Ulster to fill the vacant gap at 10 keft by Paddy Jackson’s exit – a role that Carbery appeared reluctant to fill.

Despite the obvious advantages to Irish Rugby, many Leinster fans are angry that they the province were effectively forced to give up a player that wanted to stay in Dublin. Leinster also publically stated the same in recent weeks.

One fan put it: “Seriously annoyed that the IRFU feel this is an acceptable way to treat a player and a team. First they brought in the “if you leave the country you won’t be selected” rule and now we have the “if you don’t play where we say you won’t be selected” rule

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“Dangerous times ahead.”

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The switch deal that had been mooted might yet see Keatley move to Ulster.

Such a deal could be enough to satisfy both parties, with Ulster getting an experienced 10 in Ian Keatley, while Carbery gets to play at a province that more closely matches Leinster’s ability to make the closing stages of competitions.

Keatley could potentially act as a better mentor to promising Ulster 10 Jonny McPhilips than Carbery could.

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Carbery made his break-through for Leinster at the start of the 2016/17, when selected to start in the home game against Zebre.

In October 2016, he was selected on the Ireland national squad to play against New Zealand at Soldier Field, Chicago, in the opening game of the November test series where Ireland won 40-29, brought on as a substitute in the 59th minute earning his first Ireland cap in the historic victory.

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Trevor 32 minutes ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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