Kildare ace praises former club Athy RFC ahead of French move

Au Revoir And Bon Chance In France Joey Carbery Kildare Ace Praises Former Club Athy RFC By Pat Costello BY the time you read this Kildare’s New Zealand born rugby international, Joey Carbery, will be well into his first week of preseason training with his new club, Union Bordeaux Bègles or Bordeaux RFC to you and me.

The former Leinster, Munster and Ireland out-half, who spent his formative years in Athy, joined Bordeaux from Munster at the end of last season and he is looking forward to a new challenge with one of the kingpins of French Rugby.

Before travelling to the French city late last week Carbery sat down with the Irish media, including the Kildare Nationalist, in his role as ambassador to Budweiser, Official Beer Partner of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. Georgia Tech, who played in Dublin in 2016, will face Florida State at the Aviva Stadium on 24 August.

While things may have been frustrating on the playing field for Joey Carbery, things could not have gone any better for him off the field as he married Athy native Robyn Flanagan, last summer and the couple welcomed their first child, son Beau, in June of this year.

Speaking of his new born baby a beaming Carbery said, “I don’t know if you can see how tired my eyes are but everything else is going pretty well. We are loving him and he is fitting in well. Robyn is doing great. Everything went smoothly and we couldn’t be happier really. It’s a blessing.” The out-half has visited his new club twice in the off season and travelled over permanently last week but son, Beau, will travel at a later stage to Bordeaux when his Passport and vaccines have been sorted.

Now 28 the young Joey Carbery made his debut for Leinster in 2016 and having spent two years with the Blues the former Ardscoil na Tríonóide student spent the last six, sometimes frustrating, injury hit years with Munster. Although fully fit now he finished his spell in Munster on the sidelines after suffering a thumb injury in the victory over Ulster in URC in Thomond Park. “The body is feeling good actually. I didn’t think it was going to be my last game when it came around,” Carbery told us this week. “I actually broke my thumb when I first came on in the first half, playing through it and I thought I went quite well and then with it being my last game in Thomond, it was quite nice that there was a good win at the end of it.” “Yeah, I’ve had a bad run of injuries down there and I suppose for it to end like that, it kind of summed it up. But I’m hoping this little injury is the last one for a while, so I can push on forward,” he added. “I’m looking forward to the new challenge even if it is difficult at the start.” Bordeaux will play Pau and Leinster as part of their preseason schedule.

The presence of Noel McNamara on the Bordeaux Coaching Staff had “a big factor” on Joey Carbery joining the club as the Clare man had worked with him at U19 level and with Leinster as well.

Carbery had conversations with Irish Head Coach, Andy Farrell, and there were discussions with Munster after he had made his decision to move to France. “I won’t go into any details but I suppose he understood my frustration and he understood that this is a good new challenge for me and a fresh start because you do sometimes get in a bit of a rut. I think he completely understood where I was coming from,” he explained.

“He could see it from a personal side, that’s it’s been a really tough year for me because playing for Ireland has always been a number one target and my number one goal, so for that to not happen was affecting my, I think, confidence on the pitch, so I couldn’t be myself out there. I think this fresh start now will regather everything and hopefully kick me forward,” he continued.

While obviously known as an out-half Carbery would be open to playing 15 as well at his new club as he will compete for the No 10 shirt in Bordeaux with French international out-half Matthieu Jalibert.

“Playing 10 or 15 in that backline would be immense so I’m looking forward to having a taste of both,” he smiled.

Answering a direct question from the Kildare Nationalist, Joey Carbery was full of praise for Athy RFC. “The club is in a really good spot right now. They obviously got promoted last season so it’s going to be a great step up for the club,” he said. “Just having that success and that victory of last season brings more people to the club which is great. They have two or three teams for nearly every age group so it’s in a really healthy spot,” their former player continued.

“Hopefully they can stay up and keep going up. I know there’s a lot of players coming back from Dublin who might have gone to college and now they’re coming back and playing for the senior squad so I think that’s going to be a massive step for them,” he concluded.