JOE MCCARTHY HAS found it easy to fit back into life in Australia.
His eye-catching mullet has the locals mistaking him for one of their own.
“Some people are like, ‘Are you Australian?’ My mullet is definitely more at home here,” says 25-year-old Ireland lock McCarthy, who is in good spirits in Sydney.
“I’m quite tanned as well.”
McCarthy has been rocking this business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back look for many years now, but he still gets slagged by his team-mates for it.
Yet many of them were thankful for the mullet when it helped Leinster to get a penalty in the Champions Cup final at a time when they badly needed momentum.
Bordeaux scrum-half Maxime Lucu was sin-binned for pulling McCarthy back by the tail-end of his dangling hair.
“It was a penalty all day,” says McCarthy with a smile.
“To be fair, yeah, it’s probably harsh, but I think it was a penalty because he did grab my collar. Maybe if he didn’t grab my mullet, but he definitely collateral, accidentally got my mullet.
“To be fair, the lad didn’t mean it, but thank God it’s the only time the mullet has been useful. Most of the lads hate the look of it. If that had been the swing point in the game, it would have been huge.”
It didn’t prove to be a turning point for Leinster in that miserable Champions Cup final, but winning penalties is another green tick in favour of growing out a mullet.
McCarthy was delighted that Leinster were able to finish their season on a high after the disappointment against Bordeaux. That loss in Bilbao “definitely still rankles.”
But Leinster subsequently marched to their second successive URC title, sparking enjoyable celebrations for a couple of days in Dublin before McCarthy and co. flew out on tour with Ireland.
Paddy, Andrew, and Joe McCarthy. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Among his favourite moments was welcoming his two brothers onto the pitch for a special McCarthy trophy lift.
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Paddy, the youngest brother, also plays for Leinster and Ireland but is currently injured. Andrew, the eldest of the trio, is a proud member of the Seapoint Dragons, who offer non-contact tag rugby for people with Down syndrome, autism and other conditions.
It was a proud moment on the pitch at Croke Park.
“Andrew is great at celebrating,” says Joe. “You’d swear he was the captain or man of the match the way he was celebrating on the pitch.
“It was a great moment to celebrate and lift the trophy together on the pitch with my bros. I loved it. Obviously, Paddy’s been injured, but he enjoyed the celebrations.
“My brother Andrew absolutely loves that, trophy celebrations, getting on the pitch. He was buzzing all week at the thought of it. I said, ‘We better make sure we win.’ He was talking about coming onto the pitch and stuff like that.
“So he jumped straight onto the pitch at full-time, but no, it was really cool. Andrew’s a good man for dancing and getting celebrations going.”
McCarthy has been in excellent form for Leinster, which means he is feeling good about making an impact for Ireland against the Wallabies on Saturday in Sydney, and then in games against Japan and New Zealand in the Nations Championship.
He missed the first block of the season due to the foot injury he suffered on last summer’s Lions tour, only returning to action in December.
Though it was tough to miss the November Tests and the start of Leinster’s season, the dynamic lock believes the extended break on the sidelines has served him well.
“It was a long season that year, so I did my plantar fascia, then broke my foot,” says McCarthy.
“I ended up not playing until the first round of the Champions Cup, so I felt like I just came back and felt great and had loads of energy and was flying into it.
“Maybe that stood to me towards the end of the season, and I now have a bit more energy, and I’m feeling good.
“I’ve loved this year. It feels like I’ve kind of been flat out every week playing, but it’s great. I’ve played loads of high-level games and I’m just actually loving playing at the moment, so it’s great.”
He has fond memories of playing against the Wallabies, given that he was part of the Lions’ series success last summer, albeit the injury meant he missed the second and third Tests.
McCarthy on his Ireland debut against Australia in 2022. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
McCarthy made his Ireland debut against Australia in Dublin in November 2022, coming off the bench in the second half.
“It was quite a weird, tight game. It was nervy. I came onto the pitch initially because James Ryan was down early on. I ran onto the pitch, didn’t actually get on, had to run back off with a clap from the crowd, but yeah, it was good.
“Luckily we won. It was 13-10. Ross Byrne scored the late, last-minute goal.
“It was kind of funny. I was rooming with Ross Byrne, and he was just back into camp that week, and he was quite chilled out, and he was a good roomy. Then he ended up being the person who scored the winner. Johnny [Sexton] pulled out, and then [Jack] Crowley] probably second game, first start.
“I remember Skelton was number 19 as well, so I swapped jerseys with him. It’s a 5 or 6 XL jersey or whatever he had, but it was a cool day.”
Skelton isn’t involved this weekend, but 24-times capped McCarthy is looking forward to another tussle with the Wallabies at the sold-out Allianz Stadium.
Very much a maul defence specialist, McCarthy is intrigued to get a chance to play with the new maul guidelines in place for the first time.
“I think it’s actually a good thing,” he says. “Well, it’s good for attacking mauls anyway. I feel like it is sometimes a bit negative when guys are swinging to the side, and they get rewarded for not really doing very much. They’re kind of just pulling and dragging.
“I think it’ll be good for the attacking side, and then you have to be quite legal through the middle of the seam to get onto the ball, but I think it shouldn’t affect us too much.
“I think we might see a bit more mauling. I think it has been in operation in the Top 14. I think they’ve seen a bit more mauling, a few more penalties. So I like the sound of it and what it looks like.
“I remember Dan Cole for Leicester would always do that, or maybe English tightheads, they hit you up the side, and they just spin you around the corner and just stay in there. I remember being annoyed when Dan Cole has been doing that.
“But yeah, I think it’ll be good for us because we like them all square, keep in front of them. I think defending, you’re going to have to make sure you just stay in front of it, don’t get caught up the side, so I like the sound of it.
“I hope I don’t get penalised now at the weekend for this.”
It’s suggested to McCarthy that he might be OK as he tends to focus on splintering right through the middle of opposition mauls.
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Mullets, maul laws and a special trophy lift - Joe McCarthy's world
JOE MCCARTHY HAS found it easy to fit back into life in Australia.
His eye-catching mullet has the locals mistaking him for one of their own.
“Some people are like, ‘Are you Australian?’ My mullet is definitely more at home here,” says 25-year-old Ireland lock McCarthy, who is in good spirits in Sydney.
“I’m quite tanned as well.”
McCarthy has been rocking this business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back look for many years now, but he still gets slagged by his team-mates for it.
Yet many of them were thankful for the mullet when it helped Leinster to get a penalty in the Champions Cup final at a time when they badly needed momentum.
Bordeaux scrum-half Maxime Lucu was sin-binned for pulling McCarthy back by the tail-end of his dangling hair.
“It was a penalty all day,” says McCarthy with a smile.
“To be fair, yeah, it’s probably harsh, but I think it was a penalty because he did grab my collar. Maybe if he didn’t grab my mullet, but he definitely collateral, accidentally got my mullet.
“To be fair, the lad didn’t mean it, but thank God it’s the only time the mullet has been useful. Most of the lads hate the look of it. If that had been the swing point in the game, it would have been huge.”
It didn’t prove to be a turning point for Leinster in that miserable Champions Cup final, but winning penalties is another green tick in favour of growing out a mullet.
McCarthy was delighted that Leinster were able to finish their season on a high after the disappointment against Bordeaux. That loss in Bilbao “definitely still rankles.”
But Leinster subsequently marched to their second successive URC title, sparking enjoyable celebrations for a couple of days in Dublin before McCarthy and co. flew out on tour with Ireland.
Among his favourite moments was welcoming his two brothers onto the pitch for a special McCarthy trophy lift.
Paddy, the youngest brother, also plays for Leinster and Ireland but is currently injured. Andrew, the eldest of the trio, is a proud member of the Seapoint Dragons, who offer non-contact tag rugby for people with Down syndrome, autism and other conditions.
It was a proud moment on the pitch at Croke Park.
“Andrew is great at celebrating,” says Joe. “You’d swear he was the captain or man of the match the way he was celebrating on the pitch.
“It was a great moment to celebrate and lift the trophy together on the pitch with my bros. I loved it. Obviously, Paddy’s been injured, but he enjoyed the celebrations.
“My brother Andrew absolutely loves that, trophy celebrations, getting on the pitch. He was buzzing all week at the thought of it. I said, ‘We better make sure we win.’ He was talking about coming onto the pitch and stuff like that.
“So he jumped straight onto the pitch at full-time, but no, it was really cool. Andrew’s a good man for dancing and getting celebrations going.”
McCarthy has been in excellent form for Leinster, which means he is feeling good about making an impact for Ireland against the Wallabies on Saturday in Sydney, and then in games against Japan and New Zealand in the Nations Championship.
He missed the first block of the season due to the foot injury he suffered on last summer’s Lions tour, only returning to action in December.
Though it was tough to miss the November Tests and the start of Leinster’s season, the dynamic lock believes the extended break on the sidelines has served him well.
“It was a long season that year, so I did my plantar fascia, then broke my foot,” says McCarthy.
“I ended up not playing until the first round of the Champions Cup, so I felt like I just came back and felt great and had loads of energy and was flying into it.
“Maybe that stood to me towards the end of the season, and I now have a bit more energy, and I’m feeling good.
“I’ve loved this year. It feels like I’ve kind of been flat out every week playing, but it’s great. I’ve played loads of high-level games and I’m just actually loving playing at the moment, so it’s great.”
He has fond memories of playing against the Wallabies, given that he was part of the Lions’ series success last summer, albeit the injury meant he missed the second and third Tests.
McCarthy made his Ireland debut against Australia in Dublin in November 2022, coming off the bench in the second half.
“It was quite a weird, tight game. It was nervy. I came onto the pitch initially because James Ryan was down early on. I ran onto the pitch, didn’t actually get on, had to run back off with a clap from the crowd, but yeah, it was good.
“Luckily we won. It was 13-10. Ross Byrne scored the late, last-minute goal.
“It was kind of funny. I was rooming with Ross Byrne, and he was just back into camp that week, and he was quite chilled out, and he was a good roomy. Then he ended up being the person who scored the winner. Johnny [Sexton] pulled out, and then [Jack] Crowley] probably second game, first start.
“I remember Skelton was number 19 as well, so I swapped jerseys with him. It’s a 5 or 6 XL jersey or whatever he had, but it was a cool day.”
Skelton isn’t involved this weekend, but 24-times capped McCarthy is looking forward to another tussle with the Wallabies at the sold-out Allianz Stadium.
Very much a maul defence specialist, McCarthy is intrigued to get a chance to play with the new maul guidelines in place for the first time.
“I think it’s actually a good thing,” he says. “Well, it’s good for attacking mauls anyway. I feel like it is sometimes a bit negative when guys are swinging to the side, and they get rewarded for not really doing very much. They’re kind of just pulling and dragging.
“I think it’ll be good for the attacking side, and then you have to be quite legal through the middle of the seam to get onto the ball, but I think it shouldn’t affect us too much.
“I think we might see a bit more mauling. I think it has been in operation in the Top 14. I think they’ve seen a bit more mauling, a few more penalties. So I like the sound of it and what it looks like.
“I remember Dan Cole for Leicester would always do that, or maybe English tightheads, they hit you up the side, and they just spin you around the corner and just stay in there. I remember being annoyed when Dan Cole has been doing that.
“But yeah, I think it’ll be good for us because we like them all square, keep in front of them. I think defending, you’re going to have to make sure you just stay in front of it, don’t get caught up the side, so I like the sound of it.
“I hope I don’t get penalised now at the weekend for this.”
It’s suggested to McCarthy that he might be OK as he tends to focus on splintering right through the middle of opposition mauls.
“Exactly, I’m as clean as a whistle.”
This is delivered with another mischievous grin.
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Australia brothers Ireland Joe McCarthy Mullet Nations Championship Sydney