IN THE SPACE of three weeks, Stuart McCloskey has won the same number of Ireland caps as he did in the first three years of his Test career.
It’s fair to say that things have finally taken off for the Bangor man in green at the age of 30, after long periods of frustration at the lack of opportunities. If tomorrow against the Wallabies goes well, McCloskey will be one of the biggest winners from this Autumn Nations Cup window.
He managed only 27 minutes in the win over South Africa but they were of the highest quality, then he had a subtly influential performance against Fiji in which he passed the ball 17 times, a higher total than his 13 carries.
And tomorrow, McCloskey gets a third consecutive Test start for the first time in his career as Ireland look for a clean sweep by beating the Wallabies.
Robbie Henshaw is out injured, but head coach Andy Farrell could have brought Bundee Aki straight back into the team after his seven-week suspension. Instead, the Connacht man returns on the bench because McCloskey deserves to start again.
“The nice thing is it’s a hell of a competition in that area,” said Ireland attack coach Mike Catt this afternoon.
“Robbie, Garry [Ringrose], Bundee and Stu, and James Hume of course, he’s been in there too. So, he [McCloskey] has performed exceptionally well for Ulster and he’s been able to bring it to the way we want to play.
“And I think that’s been the impressive side of it, with Bundee being banned, Robbie then getting injured. It gives Stu a real opportunity to get three games in a row and he’s done exceptionally well.
“So from our point of view, he’s got the jersey and it’s up to the other guys to get him out of the jersey. So he needs to take his chance tomorrow night and cement it in.”
Long gone are the days when McCloskey was viewed as being just a battering ram. His 6ft 4ins, 111kg frame mean he is a potent ball-carrier, but there is much more to his game.
“Stu’s skillset is a lot more than people assume,” said Catt. “He’s a big man and he’s always been seen as carrying.
“He has got a very good offloading game but his distribution and his subtleties on the ball, he makes good decisions at the line and he’s able to pull those balls back. He’s very calm, a very calming influence.”
Aki will have to make do with an appearance off the bench tomorrow and he now has a point to make, even if his 40 Ireland caps mean he has proven himself time and again at Test level.
After their impressive win over South Africa and a more scrappy victory against Fiji, tomorrow is a chance for Ireland to round off what has been an outstanding 2022 in style. For their part, the Wallabies bid to bounce back after defeats to France and Italy.
“It’s been great and to beat South Africa the way we beat South Africa, it wasn’t pretty but that physicality, I think we definitely went up another level on that,” said Catt.
“Australia will give us completely different threats across the board so it’s making sure we adapt to those and deal with them accordingly.
“They’re a massively exciting side that play some exceptional rugby. They’ve been very unfortunate over the past couple of weeks to lose those games, especially against France. They do play some great stuff. They’ve picked a really quick side so they do want to throw the ball around a little bit. It’s crucial for us to try and stem that, I suppose.
“Our defence has been pretty good, especially against South Africa. I thought we defended exceptionally well, we were tough and we’re going to need that and a little bit more to stop these guys tomorrow night.”
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