THE CHALLENGE OF taking on a Sale side known for their physicality and maul work is music to Joe McCarthy’s ears. These are the parts of the game that get the Leinster lock out of bed in the morning, the parts of the game that get his blood pumping when he’s on the pitch.
Sale secured the only away win in last weekend’s Champions Cup round of 16, with their two tries against Harlequins coming from Luke Cowan-Dickie (injured this week) rumbling away from lineout mauls. The Sharks will no doubt attempt to punish Leinster in the same fashion on Saturday (KO 5.30pm) and McCarthy will be key to disrupting that. In both attack and defence, it’s one of the main areas where the 25-year-old looks to put his stamp on the game.
“I love mauling. Always have. I’ve been probably used a bit more in the air recently, getting ball in the air. But then I love attacking on the ground, on to the next job. It’s an area I love, to wrestle.”
McCarthy has previously spoken of how that love of mauling traces back to his days working with Seamus Toomey at Blackrock.
“Blackrock has produced a lot of props but in school the scrum doesn’t matter. You can only push a metre and a half. And honestly, we’d been doing like, two-hour scrum sessions. It’s important, obviously, but in Senior Cup it’s not that important.
“We’d always get a couple of lads who had left school, so bigger bodies, to maul against us. I remember Thomas Clarkson was a year out of school, he was playing (Ireland) U20s, came down for a session against us. I don’t think he was allowed by the Leinster coaches. He said to keep it under wraps. I think it was a week before the Six Nations and he was playing, which is a bit loose, but yeah, you just do that. And I remember our sessions were… It just drilled it into me.
When I went to Ireland U20s or Leinster Academy, I felt like I got a bit of an edge lads. I felt like I was way more developed in that area.
“I just love that part of the game. I’m excited to do it in training sessions and attacking mauls, I feel I can punch well and add a bit there.”
Now McCarthy is a master of the craft, and is happy to share some insight into what he’s trying to achieve when he hits a maul.
“Not to give all my trade secrets, but I’d find it’s almost like you want to hit it sweet. You want to hit like a tackle.
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“As soon as you’re looking at their toes when they just hit the ground… So I’m thinking like, when I see their toes just hit the ground, I’m hitting the lifter so they’re a bit unstable.
“And then it either depends, sometimes I can get higher, on that one on the goal line (last weekend), I was low and almost make myself like a bullet, like I’m a bit tighter, bit lower. I can come through, and then I can just get straight through the middle and then I can get back through on ball.
The second row impressed against Edinburgh on Sunday. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
“But then there’s other ones, where sometimes you see teams, they bring the ball down and they try to, like, (play) off the top and come down, and that’s when maybe I come over, high over the top and get into the ball. So there’s a few nuances to it.”
Toomey, who now works as IRFU Performance Pathway Scrum Coach, has recently helped get seven counter-scrum machines installed around the provinces, and at the IRFU’s HPC in Abbotstown. The machines, popular in South Africa, allow players work on their scrummaging individually, pushing against a machine that will only move if the player hits at the right angle.
McCarthy explains how they have helped his own scrummaging work this season.
“I remember going to South Africa even on the Emerging Tour and some of the schools would have them. So obviously in South Africa, a bit ahead of the game there.
“They are really good. You have to hit the machine perfectly. So we have to balance your core, and if you don’t hit it in the sweet spot you don’t move it at all. So they’ve been very good. Rob McBride has loved it for us over the last few weeks, getting a bit in after training sessions.”
McCarthy continues to explain how the counter-scrum work has become part of his weekly routine.
“It would take it out of you hitting those scrum machines. So do a couple, maybe on the big (training) day which would probably be Tuesday, maybe a few in the afternoon. Or I did a couple before a big scrum session as well.
“Robin finds them invaluable. Just getting good shape. That’s probably something I have to work on. Sometimes I over fire and leave my hips a bit (up). It really works your core as well. So, yeah, fun and helpful.”
McBryde, who coaches Leinster’s scrum, has also been impressed, adding that RG Snyman had recommended investing in the machines.
“It just makes you focus more on your individual profile when you’re working with the machine,” McBryde explains.
“If you don’t get your profile right, the machine doesn’t move, it gives instant feedback which is the best kind of feedback to get so, Joe has been quite diligent in working on his shape and trying to get his profile 100% correct on each occasion in the scrum, just repeatability getting it right.
The maul is one of McCarthy's favourite parts of the game. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s like a new toy, everyone wants to have a go on it. It’s still been used, it’s great to see the boys, they’re doing it off their own back really, they’re coming in there and because it’s quite easily operated – you don’t need anyone else there, you can work the machinery on your own – it’s very user friendly, we’ve set it up in front of a mirror so you can look at yourself and how you work as well.”
It’s an area of the game Leinster where will aim to get some dominance as they look to book their place in the Champions Cup semi-finals this weekend. They’ve yet to set the competition alight this season, but McCarthy’s sense is that the pieces are beginning to fall into place.
“At the moment, we feel like we’re not fully at our best yet, and maybe that we need to be… We feel very close. That’s the general feeling to where it’s kind of breaking, it’s coming through.
“I thought the opening of the game against Edinburgh we just felt really on it. We were punching. We felt like the forward interplay felt really good. The connection with the backs was great. And then it’s just a few, small areas, losing the ball in contact, losing it on the ground… Really basic stuff.
“I don’t know was it lapses in concentration. There’s a few areas that we’re looking at, especially in knockout rugby, just doubling down on the basics, and just hold on to the ball a bit better. Our attack is starting to look really good, and we feel very confident in our defence. Maybe a small bit off it on the basics but the general feeling is we’ve got a great team and starting to really kind of click a bit. So it feels quite good.”
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'I just love that part of the game' - McCarthy keen to get his claws into Sale maul
THE CHALLENGE OF taking on a Sale side known for their physicality and maul work is music to Joe McCarthy’s ears. These are the parts of the game that get the Leinster lock out of bed in the morning, the parts of the game that get his blood pumping when he’s on the pitch.
Sale secured the only away win in last weekend’s Champions Cup round of 16, with their two tries against Harlequins coming from Luke Cowan-Dickie (injured this week) rumbling away from lineout mauls. The Sharks will no doubt attempt to punish Leinster in the same fashion on Saturday (KO 5.30pm) and McCarthy will be key to disrupting that. In both attack and defence, it’s one of the main areas where the 25-year-old looks to put his stamp on the game.
“I love mauling. Always have. I’ve been probably used a bit more in the air recently, getting ball in the air. But then I love attacking on the ground, on to the next job. It’s an area I love, to wrestle.”
McCarthy has previously spoken of how that love of mauling traces back to his days working with Seamus Toomey at Blackrock.
“Blackrock has produced a lot of props but in school the scrum doesn’t matter. You can only push a metre and a half. And honestly, we’d been doing like, two-hour scrum sessions. It’s important, obviously, but in Senior Cup it’s not that important.
“We’d always get a couple of lads who had left school, so bigger bodies, to maul against us. I remember Thomas Clarkson was a year out of school, he was playing (Ireland) U20s, came down for a session against us. I don’t think he was allowed by the Leinster coaches. He said to keep it under wraps. I think it was a week before the Six Nations and he was playing, which is a bit loose, but yeah, you just do that. And I remember our sessions were… It just drilled it into me.
“I just love that part of the game. I’m excited to do it in training sessions and attacking mauls, I feel I can punch well and add a bit there.”
Now McCarthy is a master of the craft, and is happy to share some insight into what he’s trying to achieve when he hits a maul.
“Not to give all my trade secrets, but I’d find it’s almost like you want to hit it sweet. You want to hit like a tackle.
“As soon as you’re looking at their toes when they just hit the ground… So I’m thinking like, when I see their toes just hit the ground, I’m hitting the lifter so they’re a bit unstable.
“And then it either depends, sometimes I can get higher, on that one on the goal line (last weekend), I was low and almost make myself like a bullet, like I’m a bit tighter, bit lower. I can come through, and then I can just get straight through the middle and then I can get back through on ball.
“But then there’s other ones, where sometimes you see teams, they bring the ball down and they try to, like, (play) off the top and come down, and that’s when maybe I come over, high over the top and get into the ball. So there’s a few nuances to it.”
Toomey, who now works as IRFU Performance Pathway Scrum Coach, has recently helped get seven counter-scrum machines installed around the provinces, and at the IRFU’s HPC in Abbotstown. The machines, popular in South Africa, allow players work on their scrummaging individually, pushing against a machine that will only move if the player hits at the right angle.
McCarthy explains how they have helped his own scrummaging work this season.
“I remember going to South Africa even on the Emerging Tour and some of the schools would have them. So obviously in South Africa, a bit ahead of the game there.
“They are really good. You have to hit the machine perfectly. So we have to balance your core, and if you don’t hit it in the sweet spot you don’t move it at all. So they’ve been very good. Rob McBride has loved it for us over the last few weeks, getting a bit in after training sessions.”
McCarthy continues to explain how the counter-scrum work has become part of his weekly routine.
“It would take it out of you hitting those scrum machines. So do a couple, maybe on the big (training) day which would probably be Tuesday, maybe a few in the afternoon. Or I did a couple before a big scrum session as well.
“Robin finds them invaluable. Just getting good shape. That’s probably something I have to work on. Sometimes I over fire and leave my hips a bit (up). It really works your core as well. So, yeah, fun and helpful.”
McBryde, who coaches Leinster’s scrum, has also been impressed, adding that RG Snyman had recommended investing in the machines.
“It just makes you focus more on your individual profile when you’re working with the machine,” McBryde explains.
“If you don’t get your profile right, the machine doesn’t move, it gives instant feedback which is the best kind of feedback to get so, Joe has been quite diligent in working on his shape and trying to get his profile 100% correct on each occasion in the scrum, just repeatability getting it right.
“It’s like a new toy, everyone wants to have a go on it. It’s still been used, it’s great to see the boys, they’re doing it off their own back really, they’re coming in there and because it’s quite easily operated – you don’t need anyone else there, you can work the machinery on your own – it’s very user friendly, we’ve set it up in front of a mirror so you can look at yourself and how you work as well.”
It’s an area of the game Leinster where will aim to get some dominance as they look to book their place in the Champions Cup semi-finals this weekend. They’ve yet to set the competition alight this season, but McCarthy’s sense is that the pieces are beginning to fall into place.
“At the moment, we feel like we’re not fully at our best yet, and maybe that we need to be… We feel very close. That’s the general feeling to where it’s kind of breaking, it’s coming through.
“I thought the opening of the game against Edinburgh we just felt really on it. We were punching. We felt like the forward interplay felt really good. The connection with the backs was great. And then it’s just a few, small areas, losing the ball in contact, losing it on the ground… Really basic stuff.
“I don’t know was it lapses in concentration. There’s a few areas that we’re looking at, especially in knockout rugby, just doubling down on the basics, and just hold on to the ball a bit better. Our attack is starting to look really good, and we feel very confident in our defence. Maybe a small bit off it on the basics but the general feeling is we’ve got a great team and starting to really kind of click a bit. So it feels quite good.”
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Champions Cup Joe McCarthy Leinster locked in Rugby