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What Joey Carbery can learn from Ian Madigan's decision to leave Leinster

By Ian Cameron
Ian Madigan of Bristol Rugby

Joey Carbery to Ulster – the Irish rugby media can’t get enough of it.

Last weekend news broke – care of Peter O’Reilly in the Sunday Times – that the IRFU want one of either Carbery or Ross Byrne to move to Ulster to fill the vacant flyhalf spot left by the departing Paddy Jackson. This week former players, pundits and journalists in the Republic have been falling over themselves to recommend otherwise, variously describing Ulster as a ‘basketcase’, ‘rubbish’ and even a bunch of ‘Keystone cops’.

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The speed and venom at which the boot has been stuck into Ulster has verged on the tasteless; it’s been less ‘shoulder to shoulder’ and more ‘boot to bollocks’. Remarkably now, in their desperation for Carbery not to go to Ulster, some are even suggesting Munster as an alternative despite the fact that they have three flyhalves on their books in Keatley, Bleyendaal and Hanrahan.

Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman has been one of the few voices of reason on the matter, pointing out that Ulster – while enduring a rough patch – have a setup that many professional rugby clubs could only dream of.

“There’s been a massive backlash and criticism of where Ulster are at,” Jackman told RTE this week. “But they’re a team who are consistently in the Champions Cup. I don’t think they’ve ever been in the Challenge Cup, and they’re on track to be in the Champions Cup again next year.”

“They’ve got a state-of-the-art training facility, they’ve got a state-of-the-art stadium. They’ve got a passionate fanbase. They’ve got history,” said Jackman, who pointed to the season former Leinster scrumhalf John Cooney is enjoying at the club. “If you were a betting man, you’d say Ulster are going to be in a lot better position in 24 months time or 12 months time than they are now.

And indeed Ulster are actually playing some very decent rugby in fits and starts. According to Opta, Ulster have made 206 clean breaks in the Pro14 this season, more than any other side, with the aforementioned John Cooney making the most of any player with 24.

The focus, understandably, has been on Carbery and not the highly competent Ross Byrne.

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Carbery is the next great hope at flyhalf for Ireland. As legend goes, when former All Blacks coach Graham Henry spent two weeks with Leinster in an advisory capacity, he pointed to the waif-like Carbery and said something to the effect that “that’s your flyhalf for the next 10 years”.

Leinster will be mindful that keeping Ross Byrne and letting Carbery go means that when Sexton is away on international duty they have a safe pair of hands to fall back on. Currently, they lose both Sexton and Carbery during international windows.

There’s something everyone can agree on. Carbery is far too good to be wasted on the bench.

If Carbery was looking for advice he could do worse then calling former Leinster flyhalf cum utility back Ian Madigan. The context in which Madigan made the decision to leave Leinster is eerily similar to the one Carbery finds himself in now. Before leaving Madigan was also playing second fiddle to Sexton and occupied the same 23rd man role in Joe Schmidt’s Ireland setup. Many also deemed the product of Blackrock College too good to sit on the bench.

“When the time came and I decided to move on, it was tough and it was a decision I took a lot of time on and made sure to talk to people that I really trusted and who have given me good advice along the way,” Madigan told RugbyPass in 2017. “At the time I felt the best thing was to challenge myself at a new club.”

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If anything Madigan was probably poising a more genuine threat to Sexton’s position before he left than the 22-year-old Carbery is now. Since then Sexton has solidified his position as Europe’s premier flyhalf and Carbery is very much his apprentice.

Contine reading below…

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Madigan’s chosen path, while lucrative, had its pitfalls too. His year in Bordeaux didn’t pan out and his confidence took a knock as a result. What followed was a reported £500,000 a year deal, three season deal with Bristol.

“When I was weighing up going to Bristol, I knew the club was very ambitious. Not just to get promoted this season but to climb right up the Premiership and to in two years time be a Champions Cup competing side.”

RugbyPass understands that Madigan – with two seasons to run on his contract – has only Bristol Rugby and his inaugural season in the Aviva Premiership in his sights, and in any event, the IRFU simply couldn’t compete with his current wage packet.

A move to Ulster for Carbery represents an opportunity that was not available to Madigan when he left in 2016.

Carbery can play 10 week-in, week-out, presumably enjoy an increased salary and still be available for Irish selection, and all at a club that has first-rate facilities, infrastructure and players around it.

Joey Carbery

The Auckland born Carbery’s loyalty to Leinster is laudable, but at twenty-two, he remains a young man. As a counterpoint, Sexton is about to turn 33 and the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan will surely be his last. What’s to say Carbery couldn’t return to Leinster a better player in two to three years time?
,
People talk of the danger of moving to a troubled club, but surely there is an inherent danger in languishing on the bench as a utility back, even at a great club like Leinster.

It’s time for Carbery to step into the unknown and detach from the comforting but stifling bosom of Leinster.

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

39 Go to comments
A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

39 Go to comments
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