Connacht and Ireland out-half Jack Carty joined Joe Molloy on Wednesday Night Rugby.
The form 10 in Ireland before the November Internationals.
It's all forgotten now because of that win over New Zealand, but there was some controversy over Jack Carty's exclusion from the initial Ireland squad. Carty played better than Joey Carbery in the opening games of the season. He has more experience than Harry Byrne. Fiona Hayes said at the time that neither should have been included ahead of Carty.
She wasn't alone.
Carty hasn't played for Ireland since the 2019 World Cup. It has always been assumed that he took the blame for that failure. He came off the bench against Scotland, but started the loss against Japan. He also played in the 35-0 win over Russia. Carty wasn't the reason Ireland lost to Japan. There were many reasons Ireland lost to Japan, but he was the focal point because of the position he was in.
Carbery's injury before the tournament opened the door for Carty to start against Japan. Since he wasn't expected to play, the pressure rose when he did. The reaction was stronger from fans because of the disappointment.
Many fans wrote him off based on that loss alone. Those same fans likely never watched him play for Connacht.
While Carty hasn't played for Ireland since then, he did join the recent squad for their final game of the November Internationals. He also revealed to Wednesday Night Rugby that he is in constant communication with Andy Farrell.
Carty believes that it wasn't his performances at the World Cup that cost him his Ireland place.
"I think that it really was my form when I came back after the World Cup," Carty said.
"I actually thought I relatively did quite well in the opportunities that I did play in. The Japan game I thought I acquitted myself quite well, maybe I fell off a couple of tackles. But I think what let me down was my form when I came back against Leinster, Montpellier, Gloucester. Faz has always been an open book with me."
It's unclear if Farrell expressly said to Carty that was the reason. Cary knew it himself though.
"I'm not naive or fooling myself when I wasn't playing well. You're not going to expect to get in. It was more so after I think. That's where the level of consistency or performance went down. I know people like to think maybe it was the Japan game, but the way I see it I acquitted myself quite well."
Carty now looks to next year's Six Nations to get back in the Ireland squad. He faces stiff competition from Byrne and Carbery though.
Joey Carbery is an option at 12 for Ireland | Andy Farrell
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