Johnny Sexton will not be the only one watching the First Test with interest.
Joey Carbery has only started two Test matches for Ireland and, both times, Kieran Marmion was by his side.
The Connacht scrum-half was alongside Carbery for his first try of the No.10 jersey in a comfortable win over the USA. Five months later [November 2017] and they were reunited for the home victory over Fiji.
This weekend, Carbery will make his 11th international appearance but only his third start. Sexton, the man he deputised for at provincial and national level for two seasons, will back him up on a strong Irish bench.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt says it was always his intention to give the 22-year-old a run-out at 10 on the tour to Australia. The First Test, in Brisbane, makes the most sense, he argues, as it gave Carbery the longest lead-in time to get comfortable in his upcoming role.
The Irish squad assembled last Wednesday at Carton House and trained together on Thursday [the same day Carbery’s move to Munster was announced]. Carbery and Murray would have been paired together for a lot of reps in the three-day camp before setting off and during the team’s brief but enjoyable stint at Surfer’s Paradise on Australia’s East Coast.
This pairing alone would have made for a compelling watch but the fact that Murray and Carbery are set to be Munster’s 9/10 for the next couple of seasons, at least, makes Saturday’s game [11:05am kick-off, Irish time] essential viewing.
The potential of the duo was discussed by James Downey, Andy McGeady and myself on The Hard Yards [from 46:00 below] ahead of the Ireland team announcement.
“The Murray partnership is a real bonus,” said Downey. The former Munster and Ireland centre continued:
“Joey has started once at 10 for Leinster this season. It’s not exactly like he was back-up to Johnny Sexton. Ross Byrne is back-up and deservedly so.
“Joey has to play. He’s got to play. And it’s a great sideline that he’s in with Murray but he still has to establish himself. They’ve got five 10s there at the moment – himself, Tyler Bleyendaal, JJ Hanrahan and Bill Johnston – and they’re not all going to be delighted that he’s there.”
Some feel that Murray may be the dominant partner in the relationship but the Limerick native is well clued in and will be happy to see Carbery play to his strengths.
“It is a stereotype, sometimes, that Munster just kick the ball high and bash teams up with their pack,” I noted. “Now they have done that in the past, I know, but Carbery is good enough and we’ve seen him at his best at 10.
“We saw that cameo in the PRO14 final against Scarlets and against Fiji last year. He is good enough that Johann van Graan will back him in the role. They won’t veer too far from their kicking game-plan because Conor Murray is so good at it they are playing to his strengths. But they will play to Carbery’s strengths too. They’ve had Simon Zebo in their backline for years and have accommodated him, and his talents.”
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