Joey Carbery looking forward to 'fresh start' as Bordeaux adventure starts

Nobody can accuse Joey Carbery of taking the easy path.

The 28-year-old lands in France today to start a new chapter in his life and on his rugby journey, temporarily leaving behind his wife Robyn and six-week-old son Beau.

They will follow when Beau gets his passport and vaccines are all sorted.

But Carbery has been here before.

Back in 2018 he decided that playing second fiddle to Johnny Sexton at Leinster wasn't his gig.

Even if he was getting plenty of game time at full-back and at 10 when the Ireland out-half was injured, the decision to switch to Munster was made with the firm intention of moving out of the legend’s shadow.

The fact that none of the three current Ireland internationals, Ross Byrne, Harry Byrne and Ciarán Frawley, and the up-and-coming Sam Prendergast at Leinster feel like a new environment would boost their chances stands in stark contrast to Carbery’s call back then.

The move down south, after making 37 appearances for the Blues, threatened to work out on many occasions but the Kiwi-born back just never got that run of injury-free rugby to show what he was fully capable of.

Last year, after starting against France in the 2022 Six Nations, he lost his place in the Ireland squad and quickly slipped down the pecking order, missing out on the World Cup.

The writing was on the wall.

Carbery (below) had a couple of offers from England but when Union Bordeaux-Begles, who reached the Top14 final, came calling last year, it was the only route that made sense, even if he knew he was going to have to juggle a new-born, a new country and a new language.

"Bordeaux had put down the offer quite early and I think it made my decision quite easy just based on their team and having Noel [McNamara] there as well," Carbery told