Carry and Tracy receive Ireland squad call-up
RUGBY
By Daire Walsh
LAST Wednesday proved to be a day to remember for the Kildare duo of Joey Carbery and James Tracy – as they both received call-ups to Joe Schmidt’s 34-man Ireland squad for this Saturday’s game against New Zealand at Soldier’s Field, Chicago.
Although they may not ultimately feature in the first of the two All Blacks games, they may well get an opportunity to shine against Canada at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week.
It has been quite a journey for Carbery and Tracy to this point, and they will no doubt relish linking up with Naas’ Jamie Heaslip during this international window.
Just like his Leinster team-mates Isa Nacewa and Jamison Gibson-Park, Carbery was born in the New Zealand city of Auckland – before moving to his mother’s home town of Athy when he was 12 years of age.
He attended the local Ard Scoil na Trionoide for five years, but it was while attending Blackrock College for his Leaving Certificate year that he truly announced himself as a prodigious rugby talent. Lining out alongside fellow Athy native and current Leinster ‘A’ prop forward Jeremy Loughman, Carbery was a pivotal figure at full-back in ‘Rock’s successful defence of their Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup crown in 2014 against Clongowes Wood College of Clane.
The 2014/15 season saw Carbery (who turns 21 today) further his development with UCD in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League, before an injury to the highly-rated Ross Byrne opened up the door for Carbery to be first-choice No 10 for Ireland in last year’s World Rugby U20 Championships.
This proved to be a major turning point for Carbery, who joined the Leinster Academy for the beginning of the following season. In his sole start for Leinster ‘A’ in the British & Irish Cup against London Welsh in March of this year, he contributed 12 points in an eye-catching performance, and subsequently made his first-team debut as a late replacement against Glasgow Warriors just six days later.
However, Carbery was also making a name for himself on the domestic rugby scene, and he was instrumental for new club Clontarf in their Ulster Bank League final triumph over Cork Constitution. Two tries in his first start under Leo Cullen against Benetton Treviso just two short months ago acted as another step in the right direction, and Carbery has certainly cemented his place as the number one alternative for Sexton at Leinster.
Close to four years on from his first-team debut in the Pro12 against the Ospreys, Tracy (a native of Kill, just like his provincial compatriot Adam Byrne) has now progressed all the way through the ranks of international rugby – and played in all three games of Emerging Ireland’s IRB Nations Cup triumph in 2014.
His brief appearance at the Liberty Stadium two years earlier arrived just under a month after his Leinster ‘A’ bow against Leeds Carnegie in the British & Irish Cup – a competition that has proven to be extremely beneficial for Tracy.
He was an unused replacement when the Blues secured their maiden title at the expense of Newcastle Falcons in May 2013, before starting alongside future international Tadhg Furlong in the front-row for their back-to-back success over Leeds in Donnybrook 12 months later.
It is under the guidance of present head coach Leo Cullen that Tracy has truly blossomed for Leinster – with 21 of his 24 first-team caps coming during the ongoing tenure of the Wicklow man. His first-ever try for the Blues was in the 25-14 defeat away to Scarlets in October – and his 13th and final appearance of last term (against Glasgow) was the first time that he shared a field of play with Carbery.
As Cullen pointed out ahead of the Connacht game last Saturday, Tracy has made an interesting transition from loosehead prop. He made a significant impression in the position at Junior and Senior Cup level with Newbridge College, and played in the first-ever rugby game at the newly-developed Aviva Stadium in July 2010.
Yet, thanks to the injury problems encountered by Richardt Strauss in recent months, he is now aiming to make a continuous impact as a hooker on both the provincial and international stages.