Bordeaux’s Joey Carbery Anticipates “Special” Return to Ireland for Ulster Clash

Bordeaux-Begles fly-half Joey Carbery, who joined the team this summer, is looking forward to a “special” Champions Cup match against Ulster on Saturday afternoon. The 29-year-old, a former player for Leinster and Munster, is set to face Irish opposition for the first time since his transfer to the Top 14 club. He will start in the number 10 jersey, having previously come off the bench in last week’s victory over Leicester Tigers. Carbery, who earned 37 Ireland caps between 2016 and 2022, has played alongside many of the individuals he will encounter at Kingspan Stadium and possesses considerable experience from previous visits to Belfast with his former teams. Carbery commented on the enduring nature of the competition: “That rivalry is always there.” He added, “It’ll be interesting to see what it’s like going over with UBB.” Expressing personal significance, he stated, “It’s very special for me to be going over with UBB to play in Ireland. I’ll have family coming up to it, so I’m looking forward to it.” Joey Carbery is not the sole Irishman within the Bordeaux squad; County Clare native Noel McNamara serves as the side’s attack coach. Both Carbery and McNamara shared their perspectives with the wider team this week, cautioning that Ulster is expected to present a different challenge than the team that suffered a 61-point defeat to Toulouse last week, especially when playing at Kingspan Stadium. Carbery further elaborated on the difficulty of playing at Ulster: “With Munster, I only went up there once or twice when we won.” He emphasized, “It’s a difficult place to go and win, they’re always on top of their game there.” He concluded, “I tried to get that across, that no matter what happened last week, they’ll be a different team this week.”