6 Nations
McCloskey Focused On ‘Going Out And Showing What I Can Do’
Stuart McCloskey’s injury-enforced departure against South Africa was a case of cruel luck, but he feels fortunate to be in a position to make back-to-back Test starts for only the second time in his Ireland career.
McCloskey will win his eighth cap against Fiji just a week on from suffering an arm injury, which forced him off in the 26th minute of Ireland’s 19-16 Bank of Ireland Nations Series victory over the Springboks.
He teams up in midfield with Robbie Henshaw for the first time since making his debut alongside the Athlone man against England back in 2016. He is eager to show more of what he can do in attack this weekend.
“I think it’s something I’ve always done well at provincial level, is play week in, week out quite well and get better as I go on. So, hopefully that’s the case here,” said McCloskey, who started consecutive games for Ireland during the 2021 Vodafone Summer Series.
“Looking back on it (last week’s game), I was pleased with how the 27-odd minutes went. I can take solace in that. It’s just rugby. You’re unlucky at times, I was very disappointed at the time (with the injury), but things have resolved themselves pretty well.
“It was a nerve – the ulnar nerve if we’re being specific. I hit that and my arm just went completely dead. My forearm was in a lot of pain but it cleared up pretty well.
I was frustrated at the time, I thought I broke my forearm and I was pretty worried about that. Going off, I was thinking I had waited six-and-a-half years to play another tier 1 team – not that playing other teams wasn’t big, but it’s nice to show yourself against a world class team like South Africa, so I was disappointed.
“Looking back on it, the positives were I was playing quite well when I was on, and it hasn’t seemed to be as bad as first thought with the injury.
“Most of it was spent defending, South Africa started pretty well. Some of the tackle and breakdown stuff was good at the start, I just wish I could have stayed on longer and done a wee bit more going forward.”
McCloskey and Henshaw will certainly pack a punch as a centre pairing, standing at 6ft 4in and 6ft 3in respectively and weighing almost a combined 33 stone. Facing them are Fiji’s dynamic duo of Kalaveti Ravouvou and Waisea Nayacalevu, their experienced captain.
The Bangor man has experience of playing the Fijians before, getting the full 80 minutes under his belt when a Rhys Ruddock-led Ireland side scored three tries in a tight 23-20 win at the Aviva Stadium in November 2017.
McCloskey does not feel under any extra pressure to perform this week, given his early exit last Saturday and the fact that the competition for places will intensify even more with Bundee Aki back from suspension for the series finale against Australia.
Ireland are in a lucky position to have a clutch of world class centres at their disposal, and the 30-year-old Ulster star is doing his utmost to ensure he gets more match minutes heading into a Rugby World Cup year.
He has had to be patient in waiting for an opportunity given Ireland’s impressive form of late, with a ten match winning streak at home allied to their historic Test series success in New Zealand.
“It’s just about going out and showing what I can do, not letting the moment get over you and play your own game,” admitted McCloskey, who has scored three tries in his last five games for Ireland.
“When Bundee plays, he’s been very good. When Robbie’s played 12 he’s been very good. Why would you change a winning team? That’s the way I look at it.
“I’ve played at the same sort of level as them, provincial-wise, for a long time. It’s just waiting for your opportunity to get in there and play for Ireland.
“If I was Andy (Farrell), why would I change the team unless I was leaps and bounds ahead of those guys? Those two are probably two of the best 12s in the world for the best part of five or six years.
“I don’t think I was lots better than them, but I think it was quite an even battle between all three of us.”
McCloskey’s consistent form was one of the reasons why the Ireland coaching group backed him to deliver as a late replacement for the injured Henshaw against the ‘Boks. Paul O’Connell said they were ‘really confident in his ability and his smarts, the experience he has in that position’.
He will be tasked with building on that bright start from the South Africa game, doing the things that got him selected in the first place as he seeks to cause more selection headaches for Farrell and his fellow coaches.
“Listen, I’d love to be in the reckoning for the World Cup but there’s a long time between now and then. I just want to play a few more games in the next year leading up to the World Cup, and to play 80 minutes (this Saturday) would be great.
“I’d love to keep on playing on (in these next two games). I know it’s only provincially, but over the years I think I’ve done very well, bounced from game to game, played a lot of rugby.
“It’s always seemed to work for me when I’ve played three or four games in a row, not just in and out one game here and there,” he added.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is delighted to announce the return of the ‘A’ Interprovincial Men’s Championship which will kick off next month.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. A Championship winner will be declared after the final round of matches in May and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the news, IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented:
“We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs.
“It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
The dates for the post-Christmas fixtures will be confirmed in due course. Ticket details will be confirmed via the respective provinces.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, 16th November:
Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, 22nd November:
Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, 29th November:
Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, 20th December:
Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (tbc, 3pm)
Saturday, 21st December:
Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm)
Weekend of 28/29 December:
Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 9/10 May:
Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (tbc), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 16/17 May:
Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (tbc), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Emerging Ireland team to face the Cheetahs in the final game of the three-match series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening (kick off 6pm Irish time, 7pm local time) has been named.
Leinster’s James Culhane will lead the team and he forms a new back-row alongside Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo, who makes his first start of the tour having come on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Western Force on Sunday afternoon. Former Ireland Under-20 captain Evan O’Connell locks down with Darragh Murray, who featured in the opening 36-24 victory over the Pumas, with Alex Usanov named in the front row alongside hooker Stephen Smyth and Jack Aungier.
Darragh Murray of Emerging Ireland scores his sides second try – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at out-half and he will be partnered by Cormac Foley, who featured as a second half replacements against the Australian Super Rugby side last time out. Connacht’s Hugh Gavin forms a midfield partnership with Hugh Cooney, with Ulster’s Zac Ward named in an exciting back tree alongside the returning Ben O’Connor at full-back and Andrew Osborne who moves to the right wing.
Munster loosehead prop George Hadden, who was called up to the squad last weekend, is set to make his first appearance after being named on the bench alongside Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka who started Sunday’s win. Hadden’s provincial team-mate Danny Sheahan provides cover once more at hooker, while Scott Wilson and Charlie Tector are also named on the bench for the Toyota Stadium clash alongside out-half Jack Murphy.
Looking ahead to the game, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast once more on IrishRugby+ – click here.
Emerging Ireland (v The Cheetahs, Wednesday, October 9, 7pm local time, 6pm Irish time)
15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)
10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)
7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)
8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)
Replacements:
16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)
17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)
18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Ulster)
23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Following Emerging Ireland’s 29-24 victory over Western Force in Bloemfontein on Sunday three players, Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Munster) and Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster) will return to their provinces.
The trio will leave South Africa on Monday afternoon and will be available for selection for their respective URC fixtures this weekend.
The squad will visit Heidedal Township this afternoon and will conclude the three-match series on Wednesday evening against The Cheetahs (kick off 7pm local, 6pm Irish time). That match will be live on irishrugby+
Watch the full match back here on irishrugby+
Check out the highlights from the win against Western Force below.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
Squad Update | Munster Prepare For All Blacks XV At Thomond
