Joey Carbery and James Downey on The Hard Yards rugby podcast

The big debate is about whether or not Joey Carbery should play outhalf or fullback.

It has only been 17 months since the Clontarf clubman made his senior debut for Leinster and announced himself to the wider Irish public. He was a sensation that day, against Benetton Treviso, and improved with each and every outing. His sudden breakthrough coincided with a mix of injuries, poor form and personal issues for rival out-halves and, in late October, he found himself on a plane to Chicago, Illinois. Six days later and he was kicking a conversion and helping Ireland see out a famous win over New Zealand. He played back-up outhalf to Paddy Jackson the following week, against Canada, and covered both wing and fullback when the All Blacks hit Ireland hard in the return game at the Aviva Stadium. Since then, he has primarily played fullback for Leinster while getting three more runs as Irish outhalf - USA, South Africa [sub] and a superb display in the November 2017 win over Fiji. While the debate continues about whether Carbery should target the green 10 or 15 jersey, the 22-year-old told The Hard Yards podcast [from 34:00] about how he could have been vying for Conor Murray's scrum-half spot. "I played a bit of scrumhalf at Under 18s and 19s," says Carbery, "but I was always playing that bit at 10 as well.

"Playing 9 was probably more so to help get into the team. I enjoyed playing 9 but I've always preferred having that bit more space from playing at 10, or even a bit wider. It could have been a different pathway but I'm pretty happy with the one I've taken."

Carbery says his scrum-half stints have helped with his passing and his sense of the tempo of games. The experience, at Leinster and Clontarf, could yet prove an ace up his sleeve when Joe Schmidt is selecting squads for big games. He likes players that can fill in at several roles - Ian Madigan trained as emergency scrum-half for the 2015 World Cup while Ulster 9 John Cooney recently filled in as outhalf in Ireland's two-day camp at Carton House. https://twitter.com/patmccarry/status/948843793612144640 Former Munster and Ireland centre James Downey also joined host Andy McGeady and Pat McCarry in the studio to recap the festive inter-provincial action, make New Years' wishes for the Irish sides and look ahead to another packed week of action. Here's what else was covered on the show... EPISODE 44 - RUNNING ORDER 1.00 - The sneaky way you can watch all the rugby games on telly 3.00 - The state of the Irish provinces 12.00 - Andy reveals he was the driver of the Mini Cooper in Galway 13.00 - New Year's resolutions 30.00 - Player contracts 34.00 - Joey Carbery interview 45.00 - Pat apologises to Joey Carbery 46.50 - Match previews 56.50 - Fan Questions 1.03.00 - The Gavin Henson appreciation society