An Irish Rugby Football Union spokesman has confirmed Paddy Jackson did not travel to the US “for personal reasons” but will join his Ireland teammates in Japan next week for the second leg of the three-Test summer tour.
The Ulster fly half did not travel to Chicago last November when Ireland defeated New Zealand, and his absence this time once more opens the door for Joey Carbery to show Joe Schmidt why he belongs in the conversation for the Ireland No 10 shirt.
Johnny Sexton started last year’s famous Test in Soldier Field, where Carbery came off the bench just before the hour mark to make a dream debut.
The Leinster youngster was tasked with closing out a game that was hanging in the balance and kicked a 76th minute conversion to leave his mark on the historic win over the country of his birth.
He made a second and third appearance off the bench in the following three weeks, against Canada and Australia, but injury hampered his chances of adding to those caps during the Six Nations.
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Still, three caps are more than he could have ever expected this season and, with Jackson missing, a fourth will come this Saturday in Red Bull Arena, against the USA.
With Johnny Sexton on Lions duty in New Zealand, Rory Scannell, the Munster centre who trained at fly half during the Six Nations, and John Cooney, the Connacht scrum half who occasionally shifts to outhalf, are the only men to compete with Carbery. Yet the Leinster man is a class apart in the role.
His quality was evident to anyone who watched him tear through All—Ireland League teams with Clontarf as recently as 12 months ago, and before he celebrated his 21st birthday days ahead of the Chicago test, he was being spoken of as the Leinster and Ireland No 10 for years to come.
Graham Henry, the former All Blacks coach, talked him up in pre-season, even suggesting Leinster build their team around him eventually.
He stormed onto the scene with Leinster, scoring tries for fun in his early appearances and making the step up to European level seem far less challenging than every coach promises it is.
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Almost painfully shy in front of a microphone, Carbery is no Johnny Sexton. Upon sensing his prodigious talent Stuart Lancaster, the newly arrived Leinster senior coach, went out of his way to have a word with the then 20 year-old.
“I’d be quite naturally quiet, so at the start of the season Stuart pulled me into a room and said: ‘You’re the boss, you have to make sure they know you’re the boss’,” he said. Job done.
An ankle injury to Carbery gave Ross Byrne, another fly half to roll off the Leinster conveyor belt, the chance to impress in the No 10 shirt, and when the former returned he had to make do with the No 15 shirt. He excelled.
A man of the match performance against Wasps in the Champions Cup prompted questions of where best to utilise the rookie’s talents.Leo Cullen, the Leinster head coach, believes he will become a better fly half because of his time at full-back, and he can clearly cause damage in the open space that role affords him, but only time will tell where he ends up.
Another game on US soil awaits. Jackson’s absence once again proves to be Carbery’s opportunity.