STUART MCCLOSKEY IS happy to reveal that it was he who approached Ulster about extending this contract.
The Ireland centre’s deal covered the 2026/27 season, and there wasn’t any outside expectation that McCloskey would be making an announcement.
So it was a happy surprise for Ulster and Ireland fans when the province announced recently that McCloskey had extended his contract by another year to take him up to the summer of 2028.
“I had to pull a few strings!” says McCloskey in Australia ahead of Ireland’s clash with Japan in Newcastle on Saturday.
“Fair play, I asked for it. Strike while the iron’s hot, it seemed like the right thing to do.”
McCloskey’s iron is red-hot at the moment, so this makes sense. He has been one of the best centres in world rugby this season, finally becoming a first-choice player for Ireland at the age of 33. He plans to continue this good run.
And he loves playing with his native Ulster, so the idea of being a one-club man appeals.
“I never really wanted to leave; I didn’t want to get down in a situation where I wasn’t contracted for the World Cup, and I obviously really want to play and go to the World Cup, hopefully.
“But I wanted to make an effort to go do that, and I didn’t ever really want to leave Ulster. I did the whole thing last time where I was going to go to France, stropped about, made a big meal of it.
“I got a contract, but I didn’t really fancy doing that again so Bestie [Ulster's general manager, Rory Best] was great; we got sorted early, I think everybody was happy.”
McCloskey has been enjoying his rugby more than ever, starring for Ireland and continuing to be a key figure for Ulster.
They missed him badly at the end of the season when the towering centre was ruled out of their Challenge Cup final against Montpellier, as well as the closing games of the URC season.
McCloskey was “incredibly disappointed” to miss out on the opportunity to try and win silverware with Ulster, but once that loss to Montpellier passed, he had a big focus on getting himself right for this Nations Championship tour with Ireland.
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McCloskey has become a key man for Ireland. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
McCloskey injured his hamstring back at the start of May, and there were concerns about his summer tour.
“It kind of went from being we might not make the Challenge Cup final to being you might not make the summer tour within the space of about two days, with scans and stuff,” says McCloskey.
“But I was really well looked after by the medical team, up at Ulster, down with Ireland as well. I was down working with Emma Galvin, and she was amazing with me over the last eight weeks getting me right for this, probably ahead of schedule by a couple of weeks in the end.”
It certainly looked like McCloskey’s hamstring was in good working order when he sprinted back to close down Wallabies wing Max Jorgensen after he intercepted a Sam Prendergast pass last weekend in Sydney.
Jorgensen managed to pop the ball inside for Ryan Lonergan to score, but McCloskey’s track-back effort brought up memories of his stunning try-saving tackle on Marcus Smith against England during the Six Nations.
“It’s become a thing, hasn’t it?” says McCloskey with a laugh. “I think people are just scared now; they don’t try.
“If only Jimmy [O’Brien] hadn’t been having a fag in the backfield, it would have been fine, we could have caught him. No, I was just lucky again that I was in that place. Unfortunately, we didn’t get him this time.
“I was pretty tired after it. Sure, it’s easier to accept those kinds of things when you win, isn’t it?”
Jokes aside, McCloskey is clearly able to move at impressive speed for a 33-year-old centre.
And the numbers from his GPS unit show he genuinely is moving fast.
“It’s around that nine metres per second anyway, which isn’t bad for 118 kilos,” says McCloskey.
“So yeah, still moving alright for an old man. Long way to continue.
“As everybody saw there, the hamstring is grand. My heart was in my mouth chasing back, I don’t know if Emma’s was as well, but no, it all turned out alright.”
McCloskey admitted that it was “slightly tough” playing a Test match when he hadn’t been in action since getting injured in May, a full nine weeks before Ireland took on the Wallabies.
He felt some rust, “especially defensively,” but says his performance was decent overall. Aside from the defensive adjustments, he made some huge carries for Ireland, helped them to turnovers at the breakdown, and brought team-mates into the game.
Ireland have given McCloskey licence to bring his offloading and passing skills to the game, something he has always offered with Ulster. Despite his hulking 6ft 4ins frame, he has lots of soft skills too.
McCloskey has great balance in his game. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“I love being a distributor,” says McCloskey. “I love getting the ball in my hands and creating space for other people.
“Nick [Timoney] would tell you that he does all the hard work when I pass the ball to him, but no, Goody [Ireland backs coach Andrew Goodman] has given me a lot of freedom in attack to play my game, get the offloads away, get out the back of those shapes, and play long balls if it’s on, or play short balls, but just doing the right things as much as I can.
“It’s a lot easier to take the ball to the line without much fear if you’re a slightly bigger guy than a smaller one, so I have that in the locker at least, that if I do get caught with the ball, I can sort of fall over the gainline with a bit of weight more than anything.”
McCloskey comes across as a man comfortable in his own skin. He has always been a confident player, but he agrees that he is playing the best rugby of his career now.
He has had good runs with Ireland before, including starting the first three games of the 2023 Grand Slam success, but the presence of Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, and Garry Ringrose means competition has always been intense in the Irish midfield.
McCloskey and his wife, Hannah, have three kids, who are six, two, and nine months old.
And being a father has played into McCloskey playing some of his best rugby.
“I suppose I’m a lot different person at 33 now than I was when I was 23,” he says.
“I try not to take it all too seriously, and that is a lot easier to do when you’re a bit older, and you’ve seen most of the things before, and you realise it’s not the end of the world if you lose a game or if you make a mistake.
“You have to get over it pretty quickly. On the field, there’s no point in sort of worrying about things that have happened.
“Like, at the weekend I think I missed a tackle, ended up being a linebreak, they scored, but the next play I ended up making a big break down the middle.
“So it’s trying to be a goldfish in a way and try not to have that memory of all the bad things and just keep going, so that’s what I try to do. And I think with the age it’s become easier.”
McCloskey has figured things out, and he’s now mastering his craft.
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'It's become a thing. I think people are just scared now; they don't try'
STUART MCCLOSKEY IS happy to reveal that it was he who approached Ulster about extending this contract.
The Ireland centre’s deal covered the 2026/27 season, and there wasn’t any outside expectation that McCloskey would be making an announcement.
So it was a happy surprise for Ulster and Ireland fans when the province announced recently that McCloskey had extended his contract by another year to take him up to the summer of 2028.
“I had to pull a few strings!” says McCloskey in Australia ahead of Ireland’s clash with Japan in Newcastle on Saturday.
“Fair play, I asked for it. Strike while the iron’s hot, it seemed like the right thing to do.”
McCloskey’s iron is red-hot at the moment, so this makes sense. He has been one of the best centres in world rugby this season, finally becoming a first-choice player for Ireland at the age of 33. He plans to continue this good run.
And he loves playing with his native Ulster, so the idea of being a one-club man appeals.
“I never really wanted to leave; I didn’t want to get down in a situation where I wasn’t contracted for the World Cup, and I obviously really want to play and go to the World Cup, hopefully.
“But I wanted to make an effort to go do that, and I didn’t ever really want to leave Ulster. I did the whole thing last time where I was going to go to France, stropped about, made a big meal of it.
“I got a contract, but I didn’t really fancy doing that again so Bestie [Ulster's general manager, Rory Best] was great; we got sorted early, I think everybody was happy.”
McCloskey has been enjoying his rugby more than ever, starring for Ireland and continuing to be a key figure for Ulster.
They missed him badly at the end of the season when the towering centre was ruled out of their Challenge Cup final against Montpellier, as well as the closing games of the URC season.
McCloskey was “incredibly disappointed” to miss out on the opportunity to try and win silverware with Ulster, but once that loss to Montpellier passed, he had a big focus on getting himself right for this Nations Championship tour with Ireland.
McCloskey injured his hamstring back at the start of May, and there were concerns about his summer tour.
“It kind of went from being we might not make the Challenge Cup final to being you might not make the summer tour within the space of about two days, with scans and stuff,” says McCloskey.
“But I was really well looked after by the medical team, up at Ulster, down with Ireland as well. I was down working with Emma Galvin, and she was amazing with me over the last eight weeks getting me right for this, probably ahead of schedule by a couple of weeks in the end.”
It certainly looked like McCloskey’s hamstring was in good working order when he sprinted back to close down Wallabies wing Max Jorgensen after he intercepted a Sam Prendergast pass last weekend in Sydney.
Jorgensen managed to pop the ball inside for Ryan Lonergan to score, but McCloskey’s track-back effort brought up memories of his stunning try-saving tackle on Marcus Smith against England during the Six Nations.
“It’s become a thing, hasn’t it?” says McCloskey with a laugh. “I think people are just scared now; they don’t try.
“If only Jimmy [O’Brien] hadn’t been having a fag in the backfield, it would have been fine, we could have caught him. No, I was just lucky again that I was in that place. Unfortunately, we didn’t get him this time.
“I was pretty tired after it. Sure, it’s easier to accept those kinds of things when you win, isn’t it?”
Jokes aside, McCloskey is clearly able to move at impressive speed for a 33-year-old centre.
And the numbers from his GPS unit show he genuinely is moving fast.
“It’s around that nine metres per second anyway, which isn’t bad for 118 kilos,” says McCloskey.
“So yeah, still moving alright for an old man. Long way to continue.
“As everybody saw there, the hamstring is grand. My heart was in my mouth chasing back, I don’t know if Emma’s was as well, but no, it all turned out alright.”
McCloskey admitted that it was “slightly tough” playing a Test match when he hadn’t been in action since getting injured in May, a full nine weeks before Ireland took on the Wallabies.
He felt some rust, “especially defensively,” but says his performance was decent overall. Aside from the defensive adjustments, he made some huge carries for Ireland, helped them to turnovers at the breakdown, and brought team-mates into the game.
Ireland have given McCloskey licence to bring his offloading and passing skills to the game, something he has always offered with Ulster. Despite his hulking 6ft 4ins frame, he has lots of soft skills too.
“I love being a distributor,” says McCloskey. “I love getting the ball in my hands and creating space for other people.
“Nick [Timoney] would tell you that he does all the hard work when I pass the ball to him, but no, Goody [Ireland backs coach Andrew Goodman] has given me a lot of freedom in attack to play my game, get the offloads away, get out the back of those shapes, and play long balls if it’s on, or play short balls, but just doing the right things as much as I can.
“It’s a lot easier to take the ball to the line without much fear if you’re a slightly bigger guy than a smaller one, so I have that in the locker at least, that if I do get caught with the ball, I can sort of fall over the gainline with a bit of weight more than anything.”
McCloskey comes across as a man comfortable in his own skin. He has always been a confident player, but he agrees that he is playing the best rugby of his career now.
He has had good runs with Ireland before, including starting the first three games of the 2023 Grand Slam success, but the presence of Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, and Garry Ringrose means competition has always been intense in the Irish midfield.
McCloskey and his wife, Hannah, have three kids, who are six, two, and nine months old.
And being a father has played into McCloskey playing some of his best rugby.
“I suppose I’m a lot different person at 33 now than I was when I was 23,” he says.
“I try not to take it all too seriously, and that is a lot easier to do when you’re a bit older, and you’ve seen most of the things before, and you realise it’s not the end of the world if you lose a game or if you make a mistake.
“You have to get over it pretty quickly. On the field, there’s no point in sort of worrying about things that have happened.
“Like, at the weekend I think I missed a tackle, ended up being a linebreak, they scored, but the next play I ended up making a big break down the middle.
“So it’s trying to be a goldfish in a way and try not to have that memory of all the bad things and just keep going, so that’s what I try to do. And I think with the age it’s become easier.”
McCloskey has figured things out, and he’s now mastering his craft.
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