The performance that forced Andy Farrell to make a selection U-turn with Ireland
There are not many things better in sport than seeing a player come back stronger than ever after missing out on selection, and that is exactly what Ireland fly-half Jack Carty has done over the past six months.
The Connacht No10 missed out on the Ireland squad for the autumn internationals and given the way the team performed, it looked as though it would be hard for him to break his way back in. However, he has been in imperious form this season since that setback, and forced his way back into Andy Farrell's 37-man squad for the Six Nations.
What's more, with Joey Carbery still nursing an elbow injury, the 29-year-old Carty will have the role of deputising for captain Jonathan Sexton during the Championship.
While Carty's form in general has been great over the past few months, there are some specific performances that stand out. He was at the top of his game on Saturday in a narrow loss to Leicester Tigers at home in the Heineken Champions Cup, so much so that he was described as "incredible" and a "fantastic player" by Leicester director of rugby Steve Borthwick.
However, it was the reverse fixture in December which really exhibited how well Carty is playing at the moment, and though they were on the losing side again, Farrell would have definitely taken notice of his display.
Take a look:
IRELAND Guinness Six Nations Squad 2022
Backs (17)
Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 33 caps
Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen) 2 caps
Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 27 caps
Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 10 caps
Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 4 caps
Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 27 caps
Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 96 caps
Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 12 caps
Mack Hansen (Connacht) uncapped
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 53 caps
James Hume (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap
Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 16 caps
Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 30 caps
Michael Lowry (Ulster/Banbridge) uncapped
Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 92 caps
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 37 caps
Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 101 caps CAPTAIN
Forwards (20)
Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 6 caps
Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 18 caps
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 25 caps
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 22 caps
Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster) 2 caps
Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 12 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 52 caps
Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 112 caps
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 65 caps
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 23 caps
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 16 caps
Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 45 caps
Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 79 caps
Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 2 caps
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 40 caps
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 40 caps
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 2 caps
Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) 2 caps
Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena) 3 caps
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 35 caps
Development Player
Cian Prendergast (Connacht)