Joey Carbery: 'I’ve loved being back... My dad works for Leinster, it’s where I’m from'

Joey Carbery says he is letting his rugby do the talking in the wake of his Player of the Match display for Leinster in their 50-5 demolition of Connacht in Galway.

The Irish international outside-half finished with a 20 point haul as he scored a try and landed seven shots at goal at the Dexcom Stadium.

Carbery is in his second spell with Leinster after eight years away at Munster and Bordeaux Begles.

“I’ve loved being back,” said the County Kildare product, who turns 31 today.

“The people are a little bit different, but I’m playing the game with some of the guys I went to school with, which is really special for me.

United Rugby Championship

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Glasgow

5

4

0

1

23

2

Bulls

5

4

1

0

21

3

Stormers

5

4

1

0

21

4

Sharks

5

4

1

0

19

5

Edinburgh

5

4

1

0

19

6

Leinster

5

3

2

0

18

7

Cardiff Rugby

5

3

2

0

14

8

Dragons RFC

5

2

2

1

14

9

Ospreys

5

2

3

0

11

10

Benetton

5

1

3

1

11

11

Connacht

5

2

3

0

10

12

Munster

5

1

3

1

10

13

Lions

5

2

3

0

9

14

Scarlets

5

1

4

0

9

15

Ulster

5

0

3

2

9

16

Zebre

5

0

5

0

2

“My dad works for Leinster, it’s where I’m from, so it’s pretty special.”

It’s four years since Carbery won the last of his 38 caps, but he’s been included in the Ireland XV squad for the meeting with Fiji A on November 20.

“I just want to let my rugby do the talking, so the more games I play the better,” he said.

“I’m feeling like I’m getting back into my groove a bit now and it’s nice to be back playing.”

Reflecting on the seven-try victory in Galway, he said: “I’m very pleased. I think we would have taken that score any day of the week.

“Connacht are a really tough side, but we just managed it really well and took our opportunities when they came.

“I think there were 14 changes from last week, so for the boys to step up and play the way they did was great.

“There were two lads getting their first caps and they didn’t show any nerves, which is credit to them and the team.”

As Carbery alluded to, Leinster fielded a much-changed, fresh-faced side against Connacht, in the absence of their 16 Ireland squad members.

But the reigning champions still dominated proceedings, pulling well clear after building a 21-5 interval lead.

Skipper Max Deegan said: “Something we were driving and pushing all week was the excitement piece.

“How exciting is it for all these young lads to get an opportunity to come down here and get a win?

“We were just excited to get after Connacht physically. You can see how tight this group is and how great a performance it was.

“We will just keep trucking away, keep plugging away and keep working hard because you can see the hard work out there.”