Joey Carbery is heading to France hoping the next two years will give him a opportunity to re-establish himself as a potential Ireland international.
After injury problems saw him first slip out of national head coach Andy Farrell’s thinking, then fall behind Jack Crowley in the Munster pecking-order, the former Leinster back decided to sign with Bordeaux Begles in the French Top 14.
Carbery heads to France today and will begin pre-season training with his new club on Monday, drawn to the Stade Chaban-Delmas by an international-packed side that lost the Top 14 final to Toulouse last month and the presence of Noel McNamara, with whom Carbery has worked before, as backs coach.
McNamara’s influence was key in Carbery signing a two-year deal, and it’s a chance for fresh start after a season in which he made just 12 appearances for Munster, with eight of them coming off the bench.
“I obviously had conversations with ‘Faz’ (Farrell) when I made my decision and a few talks with Munster as well but nothing to say what they’ve got planned,” said Carbery, who hasn’t played for Ireland since an autumn international against Fiji in November 2022.
“My thinking is I’m 28, in two years time after my two-year contract I’ll be 30 so I’ll still be raring to go. I’m just thinking of putting my best foot forward over the next two years and showing how good I can be.
“I won’t go into any details [about the conversations with Farrell] but he understood my frustration and I think he understood that this is a good new challenge for me, a fresh start.
“You do sometimes get in a bit of a rut and I suppose when we were having those conversations I hadn’t been picked for Ireland in over a year.
“I think he completely understood where I was coming from. For him, he could see that from the personal side it’s been a really tough year for me because playing for Ireland has always been my number one target and my number one goal.
“For that to not happen was affecting my confidence on the pitch so I couldn’t be myself out there. I think this is a fresh start now to regather everything and hopefully kick me forward.”
