Ronan OGaras stinging how hurt but it comes with the territory, says Jack Carty

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Sports people do their best to build their defenses against the brickbats that inevitably come their way, but no shield is fully effective.

ack Carty turned 30 last month and the Connacht captain has endured all the ups and downs that a career in the professional ranks can throw at you.

Still, when someone as legendary as Ronan OGara took aim, the Athlone native was forced to take notice.

Having fought his way back into the international ranks and won his first cap in three years during the Six Nations, Carty had reason to believe things were beginning to go his way.

But at the end of that tournament, OGara pointed out what he perceived as a lack of consistency in Cartys performances.

My abiding memory of the Six Nations, as well, is that Jack Carty was out-half for Connacht that went to Edinburgh and the score was 56-8, he said.

The staff and coaches look at that (performance) and that rocks everything about your environment, your culture and what you stand for.

And then youre going to go, Well Test level is another level up and I am the out-half on that team that has gone to an away game and weve copped 50 points.

It is a very, very harsh message but every game counts; especially when you are not the incumbent every game counts. The out-half is the driver of the team.

Carty heard the message loud and clear.

When I saw that, firstly I was hurt enough because actually I look up to ROG, the out-half admitted.

I suppose you have to take a level of maturity from it and instead of pointing fingers at everyone else, look at it.

The Edinburgh game was a disappointing one, but I would look at it and say how other tens had poor performances in that circle that didnt get pointed at.

But, yeah, hurt enough when he said that’s alright.

Its one of those things, it comes with the territory, I think.

I was obviously hurt, momentary, and then I obviously had to look inward, and say is what is he saying true?

And when I look back at that Edinburgh performance, yeah, it would have been true. So I had to take what he said and look at my game, look at the peers around me.

There were 23 players that day who performed really poorly. It comes with the territory. Im sure he would have had someone do that to him when he was playing, so he is part and parcel of the job.

Carty is in a race to be fit for Connachtsseason-opener against Ulster tomorrow week after undergoing shoulder surgery at the end of the last campaign.

That ruled him out of the series win over New Zealand, but he remains determined to add to his 11 caps and fight his way into Andy Farrells World Cup plans.

I like to think so, he said.

I also am aware that Im now 30 and they may look at younger players.

However, Im confident that if we in Connacht have a good season and push towards finals and that if I play a prominent role in that, it will be tough not to be in that selection call.

Fortunately, touch wood, I have been lucky with injuries and thats kind of how I got in 2019, thats how I managed to get in last year again.

So all I can do is worry about my form and then hopefully the rugby gods will kind of get me in there.

With a new artificial pitch being installed at the Sportsground, Connacht have a fiendishly difficult run to open the campaign, with Ulster away followed by two weeks in South Africa before they host Munster and Leinster in Galway.

Were looking at it in a completely different way. Youre playing three inter-pros and then playing the winners and runners-up, he said.

What better challenge?

We do have belief there that on our day we can match up with everyone. Its about doing that from week to week.

We will speak about it now in terms of our consistency, but the players we have brought in, the players who have come through, then the bit of foreign Xfactor we have brought in, theres a lot of resemblance to the 2016 season in the feeling I have now.

Were really excited for the start of the season.

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