Craig Casey: Ireland scrum-half eager to shake-off All Blacks defeat as Munster man reveals personal goals to be 'world class'

Casey admitted that he had been re-playing the mistake multiple times over in his head, which made for quite the arduous return flight back to Dublin from the Windy City. The Munster man expressed how he was eager to get the issue off his chest in Ireland's first player-lead meeting of the fresh week, as Andy Farrell's side set out to wipe the slate clean and pick up a victory against Japan this weekend.

"It's completely on me. I Just got caught out by it at the time with the winger coming in, and I've just got to stick on him. I've watched it about 25 times, and still don't know what I was thinking at the time. So, take it on the chin and come back from it and be better. It's never nice when a scrum half scores against you, either."

"It's been eating up at me for the last few days, but I got the chance to say it in the meeting, and get it all out there and be honest with the lads. I think everyone has kind of been like that over the last few days. You probably can't recover from it if you're not honest with each other or not honest with yourself. So the best way to do it is to get it out there to the group and just be honest with the boys."

Casey's trip 'across the pond' was not the headline-making performance in which he had envisioned, as the halfback only appeared off the bench for a brief 13 minute outing against the All Blacks. Having played second fiddle to the experienced Jamison Gibson-Park for the majority of Ireland's Autumn Series opener, Casey is hopeful for get more minutes under his belt against the Brave Blossoms this weekend.

"I don't want to be second choice. I don't think I've wanted to be third choice over the last few years. I didn't want to be second choice now, but it's about taking the chance when, when I do get it, and hopefully I can continue to do that when I when I do get a chance.

"I wasn't too happy to be honest [against New Zealand]. It's always difficult when you've lost as a team. But, you want to come on and impact the game, so I probably had very few touches on the ball. That's obviously not always in my control, but I felt like I didn't come on and steal the show or light it up like I wanted to. So, definitely reflections to be had, and hopefully I can be better from here on in."

"That's the goal. Of course, I don't know how close I am [to being first choice nine], but I know every time I do step foot on the field, I need to put my best foot forward and play well, and have no excuses when I when I don't play well. It's just about consistently being world class and seeing where I can take my game. The coaches will make the decisions after that. I hope to think I'm fairly close, I've pushed a lot over the last 12 months, but I have a lot of respect for Jamison [Gibson-Park]."

Whilst Casey did not take a starring role at Soldier Field, the 26-year-old relished the opportunity to lead the side throughout the latest Summer tour of Georgia and Portugal. Casey was entrusted to captain his country by interim head coach Paul O'Connell, as Gibson-Park departed for the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia, along with head coach Andy Farrell and a mass majority of the regular Ireland starting XV.

Casey rolled this leadership position back into his club performances, with the dependability entrusted by his new Munster Rugby head coach Clayton McMillan. The New Zealander took over the province ahead of the 2025/26 United Rugby Championship season, with the Limerick native excited to retain the responsibility of skippering his beloved province. With five wins from five in the opening block of the URC, Casey also had plenty of praise for Munster's new head coach McMillan.

"I loved it [being captain]. I thought it was an unbelievable few weeks again to get back in an Irish jersey, firstly after an injury, but to lead the group and grow my leadership that way at the highest level, was class for me. I definitely took it back into the Summer, when I went back into preseason with Munster and tried to drive on there. Luckily, Clayton [McMillan] gave me the chance to captain at the start to the campaign. I really, really loved it, to be honest, it's something I definitely would love to do for the future."

"[Clayton McMillan is] Just really hard edged and straight to the point. He sets up a week unbelievably well and makes you feel unbelievably good going out to the field. So I couldn't say enough about him as a man or as a coach. He's brought a lot of good ideas from from New Zealand, and I was keen to be a sponge around those things. So he's been, he's been brilliant for us."

Rounding off the discussion, Casey expressed how he is by no means the finished article from his own personal perspective. The halfback has the desire to continuously grow his game, and he is constantly learning from the likes of Jamison Gibson-Park and even Johnny Sexton in the Ireland camp. Casey revealed how he has been working upon his on-field calmness and his ability to scan a frantic back-line with a level head, even when the lungs and muscles are burning deep into the match.

"I definitely am not where I want to be as a player fully. I've definitely grown over the last two years, but I think there's still a long way to go, to take my game and try and get to be consistently world class. So a lot of hard work still to do."

"I think the scanning and the calmness is probably something that you've probably seen a massive improvement over the last 12 to 18 months. It's mad actually, when things click in your mind and you can actually see things that you've never seen before on the field.

"That's probably where the biggest area of growth has been. Where my area of growth to continue is probably just being an all around player, bringing your full game to every single game, and just be consistently world class. I'm very happy with where my basics are of my game. So it's probably adding, adding layers on to that."

"It definitely didn't really happen really quickly. I've been working on it consistently for five or six years. It's funny, when you come out of school, you don't really have a sense of it at all. Then when you come into [Ireland] camp, you get a real sense of what scanning means to the top class players. Working with Jamo [Gibson-Park], obviously, as a nine, but Johnny [Sexton] as well, and seeing what he's been looking for, with him being three steps ahead of the game.

"Then, getting onto wingers and centres and seeing what they want from you, it's just a different world. It probably started clicking fully for me at the end of the 2024 season, I think when we went to South Africa, and I got the chance to be the number nine down there. It fully clicked in and kind of kicked on over the last 12 months since then."