AS THE SOUNDS of The Pogues, U2 and the Dubliners rang around the cavernous Stade Vélodrome in Marseille last night, the Irish squad made their way over to the crowd to savour a momentous 38-17 defeat of France.
Supporters who had enjoyed a fine day on the country’s south coast grabbed selfies with some of the players as they sought out family and friends, but for Joe McCarthy, it was easy to spot his brother Andrew, who left the stadium with Joe’s Player of the Match medal wrapped around his neck.
“It was hard to miss him there, he was looking like a leprechaun in the crowd,” said McCarthy. “A big Irish blazer. It was good to see the family after the game, it was special.”
Special is a word that’s been used around McCarthy for some time now, but last night he delivered on the hype in supremely impressive fashion.
On his Six Nations debut, the 22-year-old was utterly dominant as Ireland stormed to a record win in France, with his aggressive ball-carrying and work in the loose causing the home side problems all night.
There was obviously a lot of distraction, the atmosphere is crazy, it’s hard to hear yourself think in these games.
“I was thinking all week, I was quite nervous in the week because it was a big opportunity, playing my first Six Nations game. I just kept going back to the process, and loads of great second rows giving me help in the camp. I just kept going back to my process and my detail.
“You kind of have to prepare a good bit during the week. You’re doing mental reps, and it feels like a long time leading into the game, the whole day to think with a nine o’clock kick-off.
“You take a few periods in the week to mentally get to that place, but I kind of like playing aggressively and flying around the place.”
The future looks very bright for a player who has long been mapped by the Ireland coaches, having first been called into Andy Farrell’s camp when still on an Academy deal with Leinster.
Yet his journey to this point has been far from straight forward. During his days in Blackrock College, there was a spell where McCarthy found himself sat on the bench for the Junior Fourths, before a timely growth spurt helped him shoot up the ranks.
His rise to prominence since has been remarkable – last night’s win in France was just McCarthy’s 34th game of senior professional rugby.
“I suppose, I never really started in school growing up so it’s kind of cool to look back at the Junior Fourths teams and things like that,” he said.
“Definitely a lot of people would never have thought I’d get to this spot. It’s cool, but I just need to keep looking forward, there’s plenty more to do.”
