Amid the prevailing negativity around the Irish team, there have been some positives in the last two games, and this window has underlined the increasing production line of young frontrowers.
A couple of looseheads, three hookers and three tightheads have featured in the two games, with Paddy McCarthy emulating his good friend, namesake and former Ireland Under-20 team-mate Gus in breaking into the Irish side at 22.
A rested Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong will likely return alongside Andrew Porter in reuniting the Lions frontrow against Australia next Saturday at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 8.10pm).
Ireland’s unconvincing Japan job
But against Japan last Saturday the two young McCarthys stated their cases for further international exposure and along with Finlay Bealham were singled out for particular praise by Andy Farrell as part of an impactful bench.
READ MORE
Gus McCarthy was helped into the game by locating Ryan Baird at the front a couple of times and being driven over for the hooker’s third try in seven caps. He then located Cian Prendergast at the tail before Paddy McCarthy plunged over the line for his first Test try.
“That would be one we’d been working on all week, so when you see it come off, it’s obviously a great feeling. And it gives you a bit of boost and a bit of extra energy, extra skip in your step,” said Gus McCarthy.
Of his own try, he admitted: “I was delighted to get a try. I can’t say I did anything, it was the back of the maul. I mean, I do like scoring tries, everyone does, but I can’t give myself credit for that.”
The replacement hooker had presented his namesake Paddy with his first cap in the team’s Chicago hotel on the Thursday night before the game against New Zealand, with the latter’s family present save for big brother Joe, who was hooked up on a Zoom call.
[ Five things we learned from Ireland’s win over JapanOpens in new window ]
“He’s such an explosive talent,” said Gus of Paddy. “He’s a big, big man, like his brother, I don’t know what they have in them. They just have some crazy strength in them and he’s a very, very exciting player. I’ve played with him since we were about 11, so I know exactly what he can do.
“It’s really, really special to be out there together. We’ve played as a frontrow together for a very, very long time, so it’s great just having him there now. I can trust him.”
The McCarthy brothers also have an edge about them too, as their namesake admits.
“You can definitely see that too, him playing on the edge, but that’s what’s so special about the two of them. You need that. You can’t just have players who play on paper. The two of them bring incredible amounts of individualism, and you need that in rugby. As you saw, he [Paddy McCarthy] just picked up, went himself and scored. You need lads like that. It’s really, really good to have.”
Gus McCarthy also gave an insight into the huge faith and belief which the players have in Paul O’Connell and in getting the stuttering Irish lineout working smoothly again.
[ Jamie Osborne ruled out of Ireland’s Tests against Australia and South AfricaOpens in new window ]
“Paulie is incredibly detail-focused and, obviously what a player he was, one of Ireland’s greatest ever players. So, to have him as coach, someone I looked up to growing up, coming up through the ranks, he’s obviously a legend of Irish rugby.
“What I’ve learned from him is he’s very process-driven, and he gets you to just double down on yourself. In training he really puts a focus on making sure you’re putting an effort in to work on things, not just going into training. You have a few things prepared that you’re trying to work on, and I think it definitely helps, and you see it coming into a game when you’re working to improve a few things.”
Ireland problem-solved against Japan and Gus McCarthy said of O’Connell during half-time intervals: “He’ll just maybe give a few tips on where he thinks we can improve on. He’s very calm, there’s no screaming or shouting.
“Paulie puts such trust in us, and we have such a good plan, and such a good group of lads. There’s always going to be things going wrong, it’s never going to be perfect, so you can trust that if something goes wrong, next time we just forget about it, and we go back to what we know we can do and try to win the ball.”
