Former Ireland star hints he could swap nations and play for England

The former Ireland fly-half, once touted as Johnny Sexton’s long-term successor, has revealed he’s open to representing England as he approaches three years in the Test rugby wilderness.

Now 27, Carbery departed Munster under a cloud last year and currently plies his trade at Top 14 giants Bordeaux, but his future remains uncertain.

Born in New Zealand, Carbery emerged at Leinster but found himself playing second fiddle to Sexton. Ireland and then-head coach Joe Schmidt wanted him as a frontline No.10, leading to a high-profile move to Munster in 2018.

That switch was supposed to fast-track him to greatness, but injuries – coupled with the rise of Jack Crowley and Ben Healy – saw him fall down the pecking order. With game time drying up, he walked away from Irish rugby and took up a contract in France.

Speaking to Off the Ball, Carbery admitted that if a Gallagher Premiership club came calling, he could throw his lot in with England.

Could the former Irish golden boy make a dramatic switch? The door is open – and with England’s fly-half depth far from settled, it’s a move that could shake up the international landscape.

All eyes will turn to Scotland from Monday, with England preparing to end their run of consecutive defeats to Gregor Townsend's side. The Calcutta Cup has begun to collect dust after being sat in the Scottish trophy cabinet for the past four years, with England adamant to get the iconic piece of silverware back down to the south side of the border next Saturday. All the while, the Scots eye up a historic fifth win in a row against their old Anglo enemies, and send Borthwick's men back to the drawing board 'tae think again'.

There has been some high profile arrivals at the England training centre this past week, with plenty of hope behind the potential returns for Manny Feyi-Waboso, Alex Dombrandt and Jack van Poortvleit. We've gone early in our prediction for the incoming Test match, as we try and decipher who Borthwick will pick next Thursday, when he officially announces the squad to face Scotland.

There is an abundance of excitement around the potential return of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, as the Exeter Chiefs man has been recalled to the squad for a day of injury rehabilitation. Feyi-Waboso has not featured for either England of the Chiefs since December, as the flyer sustained a dislocated shoulder in a Premiership clash with Sale Sharks.

However, the 22-year-old seems to be on the mend faster than first expected, as Feyi-Waboso decided to forgo a shoulder operation that would have ruled him out for the entirety of the 2025 Six Nations. The Exeter University medicine scholar certainly knows his anatomy, and backs himself to be fully fit for a late push for some Six Nations minutes. We will find out in the next few days whether Manny gets the go ahead for the Scotland training week, with Ollie Sleightholme expected to start in his absence.

We've predicted the 15 and 14 shirts to remain unchanged from the side that beat France, with Marcus Smith and Tommy Freeman returning to the starting XV. Whilst Smith had an underwhelming afternoon from the kicking tee, the Harlequin lit up the Allianz with some devastating kick returns deep from the back-field. Freeman was also excellent in the win over Les Bleus, with his stand-out moment being a top-rate try, as he collaborated with his Saints teammate Fin Smith, to collect and ground a kick to the corner.

The tried and test midfield is once again our predicted England partnership, with Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence exuding an impressive combination against Fabien Galthie's side. The latest 28-man training squad for this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's training week has only solidified the pairing, as Fraser Dingwall was not included in the squad, despite being the main outside contender to a starting centre spot.

The potential for Feyi-Waboso's return would also strengthen Henry Slade's claim to the outside centre shirt, which would see the midfielders swap jerseys from last weekend's win. Slade would be able to link up into the wide channels with his Exeter Chiefs teammate, and Steve Borthwick has previously expressed his desire for synergy in his squad to be strengthen at club level. Just look at the assortment of Northampton options in the back-line, or the solid Saracens contingency in the forward pack to reinforce this idea.

Hammering home the idea that Borthwick likes his England axes to share their club colours, is the halfback partnership of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith. Northampton's finest were both in awe-inspiring form against the French, and we can see no reason (injuries permitting) why both men would miss out on a return to the starting XV to face Scotland.

Mitchell has been Borthwick's first choice scrum half since the 2023 Rugby World Cup, after being an injury replacement for Jack van Poortvleit for the trip to France. Mitchell slotted right back into the starting XV after a lengthy lay-off with a neck injury, that ruled the Northampton halfback out of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series. Micthell returned ahead of the 2025 Six Nations, and immediately leapfrogged van Portvleit, Harry Randall and Ben Spencer to once again be England's number nine.

Fin Smith was mesmeric upon his first England start, as Borthwick finally pulled the trigger on the highly rated fly half. The mercurial management of his back-line, despite being just 22-years-old, certainly put the likes of George Ford and Marcus Smith on notice, as the former found no place in the match day 23, and the latter could well become part of the fullback furniture should Fin keep up this form.

FRONT ROW

There are no changes to our predicted England front row, to the side that packed down against France. The monstrous Uini Atonio asked plenty of questions of Ellis Genge, yet the Bristol Bears man was able to hold his own against the 145kg La Rochelle man. Fin Baxter struggled upon his first scrum with the colossal tight-head, yet made amends with a stand-out score that was his first as an England player.

We've once again started Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker, with Jamie George set for another immense contribution off the bench. There's no denying how in the modern Test match stage, the replacement forwards are by no means off a lesser quality than the starting pack, with Borthwick utilising George amongst his own Springbok inspired 'Bomb Squad' last weekend.

We expect Will Stuart to retain his place as England's starting tight-head, in what will be the 50th cap for the Bath prop. In support of Stuart will likely once again be Joe Heyes, as the Leicester Tigers man was named in the recent 28-man training squad and Asher Opoku-Fordjour was let go back to Sale. It's been an interesting Six Nations for the England front row, as with no involvement for Dan Cole, and Joe Marler's 2024 retirement, we have certainly entered a new era for the leading England props.

The first name in the predicted team sheet is of course Maro Itoje, with England's new captain getting off to winning ways upon home soil. It was a brilliant first home run at the helm for the Saracen, with Itoje eyeing up back-to-back Allianz Stadium victories under his tenure.

A tougher starting place to predict is who will be Itoje's partner in the engine room, with George Martin currently listed upon England's injury rehabilitation list. Should the Leicester Tigers man be ruled out of the starting XV, the door would swing open for his Welford Road teammate Ollie Chessum to take a leading role. Chessum was another immense impact player in the win against France, and thoroughly deserves a starting role against Scotland.

It's a tough call, given how Martin is amongst the toughest rugby players in the Premiership and has no regard for his own safety. We expect a Deadpool style recovery from the Leicester lock, yet a hindered training week would settle him into the substitutes bench for the forthcoming Calcutta Cup clash.

Another tough area to decipher is England's back row, as Tom Curry has been named as the third player on England's injury rehab list. The Sale Sharks man put in some serious shift against Les Bleus, with his sore shoulders feeling the effects of a clinic of tackles and breakdown brilliance. We've opted for his twin brother Ben to start on the open-side flank, with Tom Curry listed as the fifth replacement forward of a 6-2 split on the bench.

The dreadlocked juggernaut Chandler Cunningham-South is our pick for the blindside flank, with the Harlequin not quite getting the starring role he would have hoped for so far in the Six Nations. The ambiguity around Tom Curry has opened the door for a back rower to step up, with Cunningham-South fired up for his first England start since the Autumn Series defeat to South Africa.

Wrapping up the back three is once again Ben Earl, with no space in the starting line-up this week for Tom Willis. Despite the efficiency of the Saracens partnership against France, we can see Borthwick unleash Earl in eight-man role to begin with, before Willis explodes off the bench and moves his Sarries teammate along to the flank. Willis has been a breath of fresh air for England this Six Nations, and put in a tremendous showing upon his first start for his country last weekend.