WHEN HE WAS starring for a very talented Ireland U20 team during the 2023 Six Nations, it looked like Paddy McCarthy was the kind of prospect Irish rugby needed at tighthead prop.
Powerful and abrasive with a f**k-you mentality in contact, as well as solidity in the set-piece and a big engine around the pitch, the Leinster man was one of the standout players.
Sam Prendergast, Brian Gleeson, Gus McCarthy, James McNabney, Ruadhán Quinn, Fintan Gunne, and others were grabbing attention, but you couldn’t miss McCarthy as Ireland won a Grand Slam under Richie Murphy.
By that stage, his older brother, Joe, had already been capped at senior level by Ireland. Add in the fact that Paddy had been such an explosive player in school at Blackrock College – who he won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with in 2022 alongside Gus McCarthy [no relation] – and there was always going to be lots of focus on him at U20 level.
Paddy shares plenty of traits with Joe in terms of the power and aggression around collisions. He too has had to work on making sure that intent to do damage doesn’t stray over the line. Discipline is always important for destructive players.
Those sensing that McCarthy could solve the worries around Irish tighthead depth – which were more prominent at that stage – must have been surprised when they next saw McCarthy playing at loosehead.
He switched across during the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship and looked even better. McCarthy was particularly impactful in Ireland’s semi-final win over South Africa, with this comical counter-ruck grabbing lots of attention at the time.
It was clear from his performances in that high-quality U20 team that McCarthy was destined for bigger things, and probably sooner rather than later. Leinster and the IRFU knew they had a serious prospect on their hands.
But McCarthy’s emergence at the top level of the game has been somewhat delayed in comparison to a few of his peers. Prendergast already has nine Ireland caps. Gus McCarthy has earned six Test caps. Gleeson and Quinn have more than 20 appearances each for Munster.
McCarthy got four Leinster caps off the bench in the first half of the 2023/24 season but didn’t feature in the second part of the campaign. With Andrew Porter, Cian Healy, Ed Byrne, Michael Milne, and Jack Boyle all at Leinster, loosehead competition was intense.
Advertisement
McCarthy continued to learn the ropes in the AIL with Trinity, though, while working hard to add more mass and robustness. There were questions as to whether the young prop should focus on tighthead again, but it was seemingly felt that his build – McCarthy is listed at 110kg by Leinster – was best suited to loosehead.
It looked like 2024/25 might be the season that McCarthy made a bigger breakthrough. The experienced Byrne moved on from Leinster, joining Cardiff, as McCarthy stepped up onto a senior development deal after just one season in the academy.
McCarthy was a standout for the Ireland U20s in 2023. SteveHaagSports / Darren Stewart/INPHO
SteveHaagSports / Darren Stewart/INPHO / Darren Stewart/INPHO
But McCarthy ended up being ruled out for the entire first half of last season, meaning he didn’t get that chance to kick on. He returned in late January 2025 and got two more Leinster appearances, as well as coming off the bench for Ireland A in their defeat to England A. But just a week later, McCarthy got injured in training and that was it for his first season as a senior pro.
At the start of the campaign, Leinster had been interested to see whether McCarthy or Boyle could be the one to push on and challenge the pecking order at loosehead. Healy was in the final season of his career, while Milne – who has since moved to Munster – had been held back by his own injury travails.
The sense was that McCarthy and Boyle, who is 14 months older, had a similar level of talent and would be pushing each other every step of the way. But with McCarthy sidelined, Boyle took his chances impressively and ended the season as the number two loosehead behind Porter for both Leinster and Ireland.
Having had to bide his time, 22-year-old McCarthy finally got his first start for Leinster two weekends ago as Leinster came up short against the Bulls in Pretoria. After Leinster endured a torrid time at the scrum a week earlier versus the Stormers, McCarthy came in and helped shore up the set-piece.
He kept his starting place for last weekend’s home win against the Sharks and stood out even more, combining explosive ball-carrying with nice detail around the pitch.
It was the kind of punchy performance that those who worked with McCarthy through the pipeline have been expecting for some time.
And those same people aren’t a bit surprised to see McCarthy in the senior Ireland squad despite his youth and relative lack of experience. They know all about the potential, something that clearly excites Ireland boss Andy Farrell.
McCarthy was part of the Ireland squad for the summer tour to Georgia and Portugal but he wasn’t capped. Boyle started both of those games, with Milne coming off the bench.
With that in mind, Milne must surely have thought he was in with an excellent chance of being in Ireland’s squad for the upcoming November Tests but Farrell will instead take a closer look at McCarthy.
Milne possibly wasn’t helped by a slightly delayed start to the season due to a calf injury but he showed his power on his return against Edinburgh last weekend, scoring two tries to pick up where he had left off.
Given that Milne made the leap from Leinster to Munster – one he had previously resisted – it would obviously have been a good look from an IRFU point of view if his progress with Ireland continued. The union has long encouraged players to vacate Leinster’s depth chart in order to start for another province, suggesting that it will improve their chances of winning Ireland caps.
But we know that Farrell doesn’t give a second thought to that. Right now, the Ireland boss wants to get his hands on McCarthy and see exactly what the Leinster loosehead can offer.
With Healy having retired, there is a dearth of experience at loosehead behind Porter. Boyle only has four caps. McCarthy has none. Milne, who is presumably next in line, has two off the bench. So Farrell needs to drive things on in his loosehead depth chart.
The McCarthy family in Australia during the Lions tour. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
And even without a huge amount of evidence at senior professional level, there is cause to be excited about what McCarthy will bring to the party.
If he gets his Ireland debut next month, as looks likely, it’s a shame that McCarthy won’t get the chance to play alongside his older brother, who is sidelined due to a foot injury.
The McCarthys are a tight-knit family and Paddy travelled with them down to Australia during the summer to watch Joe play for the Lions. Their older brother, Andrew, has been Leinster’s culture captain and plays for the Seapoint Dragons special needs team.
The McCarthy parents, Joe and Paula, both hail from Munster. Paula is a native of Cashel in Tipperary, while Joe is from Castletownbere in West Cork.
When their son Joe was first breaking into the Ireland set-up, his team-mates jokingly suggested that he was more of a Munster man than a Leinster man. He and Paddy bring the kind of belligerence and nuisance factor traditionally associated with Munster forwards, but they’re proud Leinster players.
All going well, there should be plenty of chances for the McCarthy lads to play together for Leinster and Ireland in the near future.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
43 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Ireland have another explosive prospect in 22-year-old McCarthy
WHEN HE WAS starring for a very talented Ireland U20 team during the 2023 Six Nations, it looked like Paddy McCarthy was the kind of prospect Irish rugby needed at tighthead prop.
Powerful and abrasive with a f**k-you mentality in contact, as well as solidity in the set-piece and a big engine around the pitch, the Leinster man was one of the standout players.
Sam Prendergast, Brian Gleeson, Gus McCarthy, James McNabney, Ruadhán Quinn, Fintan Gunne, and others were grabbing attention, but you couldn’t miss McCarthy as Ireland won a Grand Slam under Richie Murphy.
By that stage, his older brother, Joe, had already been capped at senior level by Ireland. Add in the fact that Paddy had been such an explosive player in school at Blackrock College – who he won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with in 2022 alongside Gus McCarthy [no relation] – and there was always going to be lots of focus on him at U20 level.
Paddy shares plenty of traits with Joe in terms of the power and aggression around collisions. He too has had to work on making sure that intent to do damage doesn’t stray over the line. Discipline is always important for destructive players.
Those sensing that McCarthy could solve the worries around Irish tighthead depth – which were more prominent at that stage – must have been surprised when they next saw McCarthy playing at loosehead.
He switched across during the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship and looked even better. McCarthy was particularly impactful in Ireland’s semi-final win over South Africa, with this comical counter-ruck grabbing lots of attention at the time.
It was clear from his performances in that high-quality U20 team that McCarthy was destined for bigger things, and probably sooner rather than later. Leinster and the IRFU knew they had a serious prospect on their hands.
But McCarthy’s emergence at the top level of the game has been somewhat delayed in comparison to a few of his peers. Prendergast already has nine Ireland caps. Gus McCarthy has earned six Test caps. Gleeson and Quinn have more than 20 appearances each for Munster.
McCarthy got four Leinster caps off the bench in the first half of the 2023/24 season but didn’t feature in the second part of the campaign. With Andrew Porter, Cian Healy, Ed Byrne, Michael Milne, and Jack Boyle all at Leinster, loosehead competition was intense.
McCarthy continued to learn the ropes in the AIL with Trinity, though, while working hard to add more mass and robustness. There were questions as to whether the young prop should focus on tighthead again, but it was seemingly felt that his build – McCarthy is listed at 110kg by Leinster – was best suited to loosehead.
It looked like 2024/25 might be the season that McCarthy made a bigger breakthrough. The experienced Byrne moved on from Leinster, joining Cardiff, as McCarthy stepped up onto a senior development deal after just one season in the academy.
But McCarthy ended up being ruled out for the entire first half of last season, meaning he didn’t get that chance to kick on. He returned in late January 2025 and got two more Leinster appearances, as well as coming off the bench for Ireland A in their defeat to England A. But just a week later, McCarthy got injured in training and that was it for his first season as a senior pro.
At the start of the campaign, Leinster had been interested to see whether McCarthy or Boyle could be the one to push on and challenge the pecking order at loosehead. Healy was in the final season of his career, while Milne – who has since moved to Munster – had been held back by his own injury travails.
The sense was that McCarthy and Boyle, who is 14 months older, had a similar level of talent and would be pushing each other every step of the way. But with McCarthy sidelined, Boyle took his chances impressively and ended the season as the number two loosehead behind Porter for both Leinster and Ireland.
Having had to bide his time, 22-year-old McCarthy finally got his first start for Leinster two weekends ago as Leinster came up short against the Bulls in Pretoria. After Leinster endured a torrid time at the scrum a week earlier versus the Stormers, McCarthy came in and helped shore up the set-piece.
He kept his starting place for last weekend’s home win against the Sharks and stood out even more, combining explosive ball-carrying with nice detail around the pitch.
It was the kind of punchy performance that those who worked with McCarthy through the pipeline have been expecting for some time.
And those same people aren’t a bit surprised to see McCarthy in the senior Ireland squad despite his youth and relative lack of experience. They know all about the potential, something that clearly excites Ireland boss Andy Farrell.
McCarthy was part of the Ireland squad for the summer tour to Georgia and Portugal but he wasn’t capped. Boyle started both of those games, with Milne coming off the bench.
With that in mind, Milne must surely have thought he was in with an excellent chance of being in Ireland’s squad for the upcoming November Tests but Farrell will instead take a closer look at McCarthy.
Milne possibly wasn’t helped by a slightly delayed start to the season due to a calf injury but he showed his power on his return against Edinburgh last weekend, scoring two tries to pick up where he had left off.
Given that Milne made the leap from Leinster to Munster – one he had previously resisted – it would obviously have been a good look from an IRFU point of view if his progress with Ireland continued. The union has long encouraged players to vacate Leinster’s depth chart in order to start for another province, suggesting that it will improve their chances of winning Ireland caps.
But we know that Farrell doesn’t give a second thought to that. Right now, the Ireland boss wants to get his hands on McCarthy and see exactly what the Leinster loosehead can offer.
With Healy having retired, there is a dearth of experience at loosehead behind Porter. Boyle only has four caps. McCarthy has none. Milne, who is presumably next in line, has two off the bench. So Farrell needs to drive things on in his loosehead depth chart.
And even without a huge amount of evidence at senior professional level, there is cause to be excited about what McCarthy will bring to the party.
If he gets his Ireland debut next month, as looks likely, it’s a shame that McCarthy won’t get the chance to play alongside his older brother, who is sidelined due to a foot injury.
The McCarthys are a tight-knit family and Paddy travelled with them down to Australia during the summer to watch Joe play for the Lions. Their older brother, Andrew, has been Leinster’s culture captain and plays for the Seapoint Dragons special needs team.
The McCarthy parents, Joe and Paula, both hail from Munster. Paula is a native of Cashel in Tipperary, while Joe is from Castletownbere in West Cork.
When their son Joe was first breaking into the Ireland set-up, his team-mates jokingly suggested that he was more of a Munster man than a Leinster man. He and Paddy bring the kind of belligerence and nuisance factor traditionally associated with Munster forwards, but they’re proud Leinster players.
All going well, there should be plenty of chances for the McCarthy lads to play together for Leinster and Ireland in the near future.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Ireland Leinster Loosehead Paddy McCarthy