The 24-year-old Irish international has been selected among the Munster replacements for the team’s sold-out Guinness PRO14 clash at home to Leinster Rugby on Saturday.

Carbery was a key player in Munster reaching the semi-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup last season, scoring 70 points in six appearances and being named Heineken Man of the Match twice.

However, he has been sidelined since the Rugby World Cup with a recurrence of the ankle injury he suffered in the warm-up game against Italy last August.

With Munster six points behind Pool 4 leaders Racing 92 in second place and only one ahead of defending champions Saracens prior to matches at Racing on January 12 and at home to Ospreys a week later, Carbery’s return could not be better timed.

Unfortunately, Taulupe Faletau’s comeback for Bath Rugby on Saturday for their Gallagher Premiership match against Sale Sharks at the Recreation Ground has come too late for Pool 3’s bottom club to qualify for the last eight.

The Wales No.8, who has made 40 European appearances in nine seasons, has been out of action since January, first with a broken arm and then with a fractured collarbone.

With Munster Rugby facing two make-or-break ties in Pool 4 of the Heineken Champions Cup next month in a bid to qualify for the quarter-finals, fly-half Joey Carbery has provided the Irish province with a major boost by returning to full fitness.