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23rd June 2023
01:57pm BST
In September of that year, McCloskey raved about Farrell, as a coach and man, while telling The Rugby Pod, "I should be the guy that hates him the most, really, if you're thinking of players. I don't get picked that much, even though I'm in squads I don't get playing. But I actually don't. I have total respect for him."[caption id="attachment_289347" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]
Ireland players, from left, Tadhg Beirne, Conor Murray, Andrew Porter, Stuart McCloskey, Josh van der Flier, Garry Ringrose, Hugo Keenan and James Ryan before this year's Guinness Six Nations match against France. (Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile)[/caption]
He was off and running. All the promise he had shown in an Ulster jersey, and all the fans that thought he was capable at Test level, it all started coming together. The 'I told you so' brigade were telling everyone so, and it was hard to disagree. Back at Ulster, McCloskey exudes big dog energy. He would remind you on those brilliant All Blacks or Pacific Island players that often consider a strong tackle like an inconvenient gnat. He takes the hit while still surveying the scene, and finds his pass regardless.His passing, work-rate, support lines, hard carrying and defensive awareness have all been impressive, this past season. If there was an area he needs to look at it would be getting over the whitewash more often [his two tries in 2022/23 are his lowest return in six seasons].Farrell and Dan McFarland will love that extra effort he is putting in, around the park, but you need to identify yourself as a try-scoring threat to suck in the defenders. The Six Nations rolled back around and he started the first three games, with Ireland winning each time [the only time he has lost in a green jersey was on his Test debut in February 2016]. It all looked to be going well until Ireland struggled to put Italy away, in Rome. During that game, Bundee Aki was great in attack but made a couple of big errors, playing at outside centre, in defence. The man himself was crestfallen after the final whistle, despite Ireland's win. With Henshaw back fit, speculation in certain quarters was that Aki could miss out on the Scotland game. As it was, Aki started with Ringrose and Henshaw was on the bench. McCloskey missed out entirely, on that and the Grand Slam-clincher against England, and Farrell said he was 'unbelievably unlucky'. The last chance to impress the Ireland coach, after leaving camp, is the season run-in. Leinster knocked them out of the Champions Cup at the Last 16 stage so the URC provided that ultimate shop window. As it turned out, Connacht (semis) and Munster (winner) lads were longer on display. That, in part, led to just six Ulster players making Ireland's 42-man World Cup training squad. Stuart McCloskey is there, and he should survive the cull from 42 to 33 when Andy Farrell confirms his squad, in August. Being that specialised inside centre [he has never started in another position] could go against him, especially with versatile players like O'Brien and Osborne around, but McCloskey has proven impossible to ignore any longer. Ringrose and Henshaw, fine players as they are, take a lot of knocks. McCloskey had to wait until he was a month shy of his 29th birthday to start two Test matches consecutively. Last season, he started six on the spin for Ireland and they won each time. There are battles ahead, ones against lads gunning for those final squad spots and that will take place away from the TV cameras. They do not come much more battle hardened than this lad.
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