MX23RW : Sunday, February 10 13:23:59

Chris Farrell hails Joey Carbery's resilience in Ireland's win over Scotland

Chris Farrell hails Joey Carbery's resilience in Ireland's win over Scotland
© Reuters
Carbery bounced back from throwing a wild intercept pass that Finn Russell picked off.

Chris Farrell believes Joey Carbery’s “resilient” response to gifting Scotland a try at Murrayfield could be the making of the talented playmaker’s Test career.

Carbery threw a wild intercept pass that Finn Russell picked off, before racing clear and popping off the ground for Sam Johnson to score as Ireland toiled away against the Scots on Saturday.

The 23-year-old fly-half gathered both composure and poise however, conjuring Keith Earls’ winning try in piloting Ireland’s 22-13 victory.

Carbery held his nerve in almost an hour at the tiller after Johnny Sexton’s head injury, leaving his Munster team-mate Farrell suitably impressed.

“He can bring massive confidence into how he reacted to that himself,” said Farrell.

“It’s a great learning experience for him, and shows just how resilient he is.

“He’s a massively resilient character in Munster as well.

“I’ve got to know him really well in the last six months down in Limerick, and it’s great for him to have bounced back the way he did.

“Because he managed to get control of things, made a nice little break for Earlsy’s try, and he looked really dangerous in attack.

“The way he reacted, and the way we all did, that can give us confidence as a team too.

“You always feed off your 10, especially as a centre. And to play outside Joey when he’s playing with confidence and has his head up, that’s great.”

Jacob Stockdale, centre, is mobbed after scoring a fine try in Ireland's 22-13 Six Nations victory over Scotland
Jacob Stockdale, centre, is mobbed after scoring a fine try in Ireland’s 22-13 Six Nations victory over Scotland (Ian Rutherford/PA)

Jacob Stockdale’s 13th try in 16 Tests proved the attacking highlight for Ireland, the Ulster winger flying in courtesy of Joe Schmidt’s latest special move come good.

Outside centre Farrell crashed into contact to lay the platform, before Peter O’Mahony switched with Johnny Sexton – who in turn flicked inside for Stockdale to race clear.

Back in November’s superlative 16-9 win over New Zealand, Stockdale was handed a reprieve when Kieran Read charged down an attempted chip in behind, only to knock on when a try seemed certain.

Stockdale later had the resolve to chip in behind and gather for a stunning try, in a sequence of events that rubber-stamped his Test pedigree.

Admitting he sees Carbery’s Edinburgh experiences in a similar light to Stockdale’s All Blacks efforts, Farrell also ran the rule over Ireland’s training-ground ruse that paid off at Murrayfield on Saturday.

“Jacob definitely benefited from that turn of events back in November, and it could be the same with Joey now,” said Farrell.

“Jacob learned from that, and Joey will have learned from this too. And I suppose Jacob’s try here was a perfect example of one of Joe Schmidt’s set-piece moves.

“I carried the first phase and we tried to get quick ball, it was actually slowed down more than I would have liked, but it still somehow worked. They over-read on Johnny and he just played Jacob coming through the middle.

“So there’s massive detail probably on the next phase, where Johnny shows it back inside then Jacob times his run perfectly to come through on the shoulder of the other guy who’s inside Johnny as well. So that’s where the real detail is.

“For me it’s just about trying to get over the gain line and get quick ball.”


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