Resident co-host Eoin Sheahan finally returned from his US travels to join Ger on OTB AM this morning to chew the fat on the seemingly impending Joey Carbery move to Ulster.
Whilst the move has dominated the back pages in recent weeks, Sheahan told Ger that moving up North and partnering with Ulster scrum-half John Cooney could potentially be a very fruitful relationship come next season.
“When you think about Joey Carbery, when you think about the potential of him going to Ulster...It’s not just about the game-time.
“You’ve got John Cooney at 9, you’ve got a player who’s clearly hungry for success, he’s a player who’s made vast improvements this season for an Ulster team that looked doomed at certain parts of the season he was the only shining light at certain times.
“He’s looking to learn, Joey Carbery is looking to learn and you’ve got an unbelievably exciting half-back pair right there. Like, is that not something, as a neutral, you need to be really excited about?”
As the conversation then weaved its way towards Carbery's current selection dilemma at Leinster, Sheahan argued that he doesn't see Sheahan starting at out-half or full-back in the immediate future. Ulster, as Sheahan noted, makes the most sense from a career perspective for Carbery.
“If he wants to become a number 10, that will not happen in the near future at Leinster.
“Will 15 happen for him in the near future at Leinster? To a certain extent there’s also a question mark over that, I mean Kearney’s not going to be around for much longer, but he’s still playing unbelievable rugby.
“You’ve got Jordan Larmour waiting to play as well, you can shunt him out to the wing if you want. You’ve got Ross Byrne too. He’s got the potential to be absolutely fantastic.
“The best thing for an Irish rugby perspective is for Joey Carbery to be playing at 10 for Ulster next season.
“That’s what he says in the short term [that he doesn’t want to leave Leinster], but what does he want in the long-term? Does he want to become the best out-half in the northern hemisphere, I suspect he does.
“I suspect he wants to start at no.10 for Ireland and win more Grand Slams for Ireland, I suspect he wants to start at no.10 for Leinster and win more Champions Cups after they inevitably win on Saturday.
“How does he best achieve that? It’s not by sitting around at Leinster for the next couple of years. If he wants the best chance of achieving that he needs to start at 10 now.”
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