Seven years on, Carbery aims for second Champions Cup medal
WHEN JOEY CARBERY helped Leinster to their most recent Champions Cup trophy in 2018, as well as the Pro14 crown a week later, there were lots of people who thought the talented playmaker would go on to guide the province to a few more of those titles.
Carbery himself might have been among them.
He had yet to confirm his decision to move to Munster that summer and as Carbery weighed up that switch, the possibility of winning more silverware with Leinster must have been difficult to resist.
Athy man Carbery had enjoyed two strong seasons for his home province, with 23 in 37 appearances over the 2016/17 and 2017/18 campaigns. Sure, many of them came at fullback and Carbery wanted to be an out-half but he was playing well with Leinster.
The young New Zealand native was also establishing himself as the back-up to Johnny Sexton with Ireland, earning 13 Test caps in those two first years of international rugby.
Leinster had just secured their fourth Champions Cup title and were already beginning to dream of a fifth star.
Carbery was an unused replacement in that 2018 final win over Racing 92 in Bilbao, but he played his part in the run to the decider. There were two starts at fullback in the pool stages, as well as replacement appearances in the quarter-final and semi-final. Carbery's winner's medal was well-earned.
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There are many from the 2018 final still playing with Leinster now and still searching for that elusive fifth Champions Cup crown. Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Luke McGrath, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose, and Jordan Larmour all started the 2018 decider, as did the soon-to-retire Cian Healy.
Andrew Porter, Jack Conan, and Jamison Gibson-Park were on the bench.
Carbery after the 2018 Champions Cup final. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Given what he has been through with injuries in the years since and given Leinster's strength during that time, it's a little crazy that Carbery could have his second Champions Cup winner's medal before any of those former team-mates.
Carbery is now part of the Bordeaux set-up plotting to win this competition for the first time, as well as chasing the Top 14 title. 'The assault on history' reads the front page headline on today's edition of Midi Olympique.
An exciting Northampton group stand in their way, having already ended Leinster's campaign in the semi-finals.
The Top 14 side are viewed as favourites, having dethroned Toulouse in the semi-finals.
Both finalists went strong with their domestic selections last weekend, opting against resting key players a week out from the Champions Cup final. Bordeaux enjoyed a 34-29 win over Castres in the Top 14, while Northampton had a 28-24 win against Saracens in the Premiership. Both of them are bouncing into this Saturday's decider in Cardiff.
Carbery came off the bench for starting out-half Matthieu Jalibert against Castres and that will be his likely role in the Champions Cup final unless Bordeaux boss Yannick Bru decides to go for a 6/2 split with his replacements.
That was the case for one of their pool games and the quarter-final against Munster, with Carbery missing out on involvement in both cases as Bru went with a scrum-half and an out-and-out back three player as the two backline substitutes.
That would be cruel on Carbery, so he'll be hoping Bordeaux's coaches go for the classic 5/3 split they've used in their other five Champions Cup games this season, including the semi-final victory against Toulouse.
Carbery has been enjoying life with Bordeaux. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
A second Champions Cup medal would add handsomely to the list of achievements Carbery has already put together in rugby.
His injury record means there is understandable sympathy towards him from many quarters, but Carbery has done things that many players can only dream about.
An international debut at the age of 21 that involved kicking a conversion as Ireland beat New Zealand for the first time in their history. Four appearances in a Grand Slam success in 2018. A series win in Australia in 2018 and an even bigger one in New Zealand in 2022. Carbery has 37 Ireland caps in total.
He didn't play for Munster in the URC knock-outs in 2023 but made 10 starts in that title-winning campaign, while he also won an AIL with Clontarf and a Leinster Schools Senior Cup with Blackrock. That's plenty of success and he's still only 29.
A victory with Bordeaux this weekend might be as sweet as any given the road Carbery has taken since that double with Leinster in 2018. It has been the one less travelled but the talented Irishman is chasing down another double now.
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