Joey Carbery addresses Leinster return following Leo Cullen comments

Ireland international Joey Carbery has confirmed his return to Irish rugby ahead of next season, with a new deal to re-join Leinster Rugby.

Carbery was on site as his current side, Union Bordeaux Begles, secured back to back Investec Champions Cup titles with a dominant 41 – 19 victory over Leinster in Bilbao.

Unavailable through injury, Carbery was initially coy when asked in an interview with Off The Ball about his impending return to Dublin. However, he changed his tone when the interviewer confirmed that Leinster boss Leo Cullen had already revealed his return, with Carbery appearing excited at the prospect of linking up with Leinster for the first time since 2018.

“If he is saying it, then yeah I suppose it is. I am not sure if it is 100% confirmed, but I am looking forward to heading home,” Carbery said of his return.

For his part, Cullen was clearer on the transfer and his side’s need to replace the departing Ciaran Frawley.

“I just saw Joey Carbery out there as well, so Joey, on the flip side, is coming in,” Cullen said.

“That’s the way it goes sometimes. We tried to keep Ciaran in the club earlier in the season, but he has made that decision.

“We respect his decision and we have some good quality 10s.

“Obviously Harry [Byrne] started today, we’ve Sam [Prendergast] who has played a lot of big games for us and will continue to get better, and everyone just needs to keep pushing each other on.”

Departing Leinster in 2018 on the advice of then Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt, Carbery went on to play for their provincial rivals Munster Rugby between 2018 and 2024, winning a URC title in 2023.

Due to the emergence of Jack Crowley as Munster’s first choice out half, as well as a challenging run of injuries, Carbery broke the mould with a move to the Top 14, effectively pausing his international career.

When asked to reflect on the move and whether it had been a positive decision, the 30-year-old was clear that there were plenty of learnings which he will be able to bring back to Irish rugby.

“Yeah definitely,” he said. “It’s a great place to come and play. For me, as an experience, it has been eye opening to see how these guys operate.

“It’s just a different way of playing and obviously it’s a very successful way of playing, so hopefully I can bring some stuff home with me.”

On the topic of fellow out half Mathieu Jalibert, who has firmly established himself as first choice for club and country in recent seasons, Carbery was immensely complimentary of his key rival.

“There’s a looseness and chaos, but there is also a lot of reason behind why he does it.

“The majority of time it works out because he has seen it two or three phases before. For him, to see how he plays and the confidence he plays with.

“For me it has given me a lot to say, ‘look, you see something, you try something and you don’t worry about what a coach is going to say if they give out to you.'”