A little over six-months after making his international debut, Jack Carty is poised to start for Ireland in their second World Cup pool game against Japan this weekend. 

Teammates at Connacht, John Muldoon praised the out-half's astounding development in such a short space of time in conversation with Off the Ball.

"Jack has had a lot of ups and downs," the Galway native noted of Carty.

"You think about when we won the Pro 12 in 2016, he had a couple of ropey moments ... toward the end of the season and actually didn't make the match-day squad for the final.

"Since then, he's grown as a player and as a person and he started to mature massively last year."

A relative latecomer to rugby, Jack Carty made his senior breakthrough with Connacht in 2014.

Facing stiff competition throughout for the #10 jersey, he has since made it his own in recent seasons.

Considered some way behind Johnny Sexton and Joey Carbery in the international pecking-order, Carty is nevertheless now primed for his World Cup debut.

"Speaking to him today, he's massively excited," revealed Muldoon, "he deserves it.

"A lot of that has gone down to hard work, and I know a lot of people will say that's an easy thing to say, but Jack works extremely hard on his game, he's very diligent at what he does and he looks after himself very well.

"As I said to him earlier on, the reward comes when he walks off that pitch."

In what will be a stiff challenge against the hosts Japan, Muldoon encouraged Jack Carty to slip into the highly functioning Irish outfit, and not get caught "trying to pull rabbits out of a hat."

One aspect of the out-half's performance that has consistently impressed Muldoon in the last year is Carty's kicking.

"I would say that's where his confidence has come from," he noted of Carty's improved kicking standards.

"His off-the-cuff game, his running ability, his ability to take ball to the line has always been superb.

"I think as a kicker, sometimes when you're younger and you miss a kick it can effect your game, and that's been one of Jack's downfalls over the last few years.

"As I said, that's improved massively and it is a continued work-on for him."

You can watch John Muldoon and Keith Wood talking Ireland's Rugby World Cup in full here. 

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