Nacewa has faith in Carbery

Isa Nacewa has full faith in Joey Carbery to deputise for Johnny Sexton should the Leinster fly-half be given a break from rugby.

Sexton was forced to sit out Ireland's win over Australia on Saturday after picking up a fresh hamstring injury in the defeat to New Zealand the previous week and there have been suggestions that he will be given a break to ensure he fully recovers from his injury problems.

While Leinster are open to the idea of giving him some time off, the province are hoping to have the fly-half available for the Champions Cup tie against Northampton on December 9.

However, should Sexton be ruled out, Nacewa is in no doubt that Carbery is ready to step into the role.

“He’s already led us. He led us against Castres, came on against Montpellier. He has the highest experience in international rugby already, and that’s all in the last three months," Nacewa is quoted as saying in the Irish Examiner.

“I’ve no issue with Joey stepping in. He’s already proved he can lead in our squad.

“We’ve got some tough characters in our squad and quite a lot of senior players, Joey has slipped in seamlessly and taken on a leadership responsibility. He does it in games and, more importantly, he does it in training throughout the week. It’s exciting to play with him.”

While Carbery may not be as vocal as Sexton, Nacewa believes he communicates in other ways.

“A lot of the time he just backs his actions, and we saw that against Castres here, his ability to make something out of nothing. The guys around him help him out, but when he needs to lead he just takes control and does it," the Blues captain added.

“It’s more about taking the opportunity and he’s taken his opportunity. He knows when he has to lead, when he can sit back, the beauty about it is he’s moved so far in the last five months, from being an academy player to being on the bench in Chicago for Ireland and getting capped, it’s pretty exciting, for himself, but even exciting to play with him and be around him.”