Joseph Carbery (born 1 November 1995) is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for United Rugby Championship club Munster. Born in New Zealand, he represents Ireland at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.
Early life
Carbery was born in Dargaville, New Zealand, to an Irish mother from Athy, County Kildare and an Irish–New Zealand father (who was also born in Athy but taken by his migrating parents as a two-year-old to live in New Zealand). Carbery returned with his family to Athy when he was 11 years old. He attended Árdscoil na Tríonóide in Athy, and moved to Blackrock College for his final year of school, where he won the 2014 Leinster Schools Rugby Senior Cup.
Club career
Leinster
Carbery made his senior competitive debut for Leinster on 18 March 2016, when he came off the bench in the province's 12–6 defeat during the 2015–16 Pro12 season at the hands of Glasgow Warriors. He made his break-through for Leinster when he started at fly-half in the provinces opening 2016–17 Pro12 fixture against Benetton on 2 September 2016. Carbery scored two tries in their 20–8 victory against the Italian side.
Carbery produced a Man-of-the-Match performance from fullback in Leinster's 32–17 win against Wasps in the quarter-finals of the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup on 1 April 2017. He went on to win the Young Player of the Season award for both Leinster and the Pro12 for the 2016–17 season. He was used as a replacement by Leinster in the finals of both the 2017–18 Pro14 and 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup in May 2018. Leinster's victories in both finals saw them complete a historic double, becoming the first Celtic team to do so.
Munster
After much speculation, it was confirmed in May 2018 that Carbery would join Leinster's rivals Munster on a two-year contract ahead of the 2018–19 season. He made his competitive debut for Munster on 1 September 2018, coming off the bench in their opening 2018–19 Pro14 fixture against the Cheetahs in Thomond Park, a game which Munster won 38–0. Carbery made his first start for Munster on 14 September 2018, doing so against Ospreys in Irish Independent Park and scoring his first try for the province, as well as kicking five conversions in Munster's 49–13 win.
Carbery won the Man-of-the-Match award and scored 18 points, including a try, in Munster's 64–7 win against Ulster in Thomond Park on 29 September 2018. Carbery's try in this match was later voted Munster's try of the 2018–19 season. Carbery made his European debut for Munster on 13 October 2018, starting in the provinces 10–10 draw with Exeter Chiefs in Sandy Park and contributing five points off the kicking tee in the sides' opening 2018–19 Champions Cup fixture. One week later, in his first home European game for Munster, Carbery scored one try, four conversions, one penalty and won the Man-of-the-Match award in the provinces 36–22 win against Gloucester.
Carbery scored 14 points, including four penalties and one conversion, in Munster's 26–17 win against his former province Leinster on 29 December 2018. He was Man-of-the-Match and scored 16 points, including one try, four conversions and one penalty, in Munster's 31–24 away win against Connacht on 5 January 2019. Carbery scored 26 points, including two tries, five conversions and two penalties, and was Man-of-the-Match in Munster's 41–15 away win against English side Gloucester in round 5 of the Champions Cup on 11 January 2019. He scored all of Munster's points from penalties in their 9–7 win against Exeter Chiefs in round 6 on the Champions Cup on 19 January 2019, a result that ensured Munster advanced to a record 18th Champions Cup quarter-final.
Carbery signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in March 2019. The ankle injury Carbery sustained whilst on international duty with Ireland at the 2019 Rugby World Cup was aggravated post-tournament, ruling him out for a number of games. He made his return from injury for the province on 28 December 2019, featuring off the bench in Munster's 13–6 defeat against Carbery's former club Leinster in round 9 of the 2019–20 Pro14. However, a wrist injury sustained after Carbery played the full 80 minutes in Munster's 38–17 defeat against Ulster on 3 January 2020 required surgery, and during his rehabilitation for that injury, it was decided that Carbery would also undergo surgery for the ankle injury sustained while on international duty during the world cup, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2019–20 season and indefinitely thereafter.