Ireland: Joey Carbery gains confidence after Andy Farrell puts faith in fly-half

Colin Newboult

Ireland fly-half Joey Carbery says that his confidence has grown after head coach Andy Farrell backed him to start against France last weekend.

Following Johnny Sexton’s injury, Farrell decided to select the Munsterman ahead of Connacht star Jack Carty for the big clash with Les Bleus.

Carbery acquitted himself well in the 30-24 defeat and the 27-year-old is now looking to build on that display going into the next game.

A nice feeling

“Definitely, it’s great for my confidence knowing the head coach fully believes in you,” he told RTE.

“I’m very grateful he backs me and it’s a nice feeling, especially going out there in a tough environment like Saturday, and it’s very reassuring to know I’ve got the full backing behind me.”

France looked to test Carbery, particularly in defence as they targeted that channel, but Carbery held up well.

“I missed one or two (tackles), but was happy enough,” he said.

“We’d viewed them and had a look beforehand and knew it as one of the channels they were going to target because they have a few very good ball carriers.

“I was happy with my goal-kicking. I think the first half we probably could have challenged them a bit and move them a bit more, and in the second half we did, we got back into the game, we came back from that deficit.

“It shows we have the belief there, we were fully capable of doing it. To be honest, I was delighted to get the start, but was very disappointed with the result.”

Carbery has long been seen as the player to take over from Sexton, but injuries to the 26-year-old, as well as the Leinsterman’s performances and durability, means he has had to bide his time.

There has therefore been a lot of pressure on Carbery throughout his career but the pivot does not necessarily feel it.

“I think if you look at it like that it’s tough, but the way I look at it is just trying to put Ireland first,” he added.

“We both put our best foot forward and we can go out there and play to the best of our potential, then I think Ireland will be the main winner. In the environment we’re in that’s the main thing.

“It’s obvious that we both want the same jersey, but the relationship is good, it’s not negative and there are a lot of positives from it.”

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