THOUGH HIS SIX Nations performances will remain a talking point for some time to come, it’s all in the rearview mirror for Stuart McCloskey whose priority now is to help push Ulster onwards.
Even though he turned out for the province for the first time since January last weekend in the URC win at Zebre, there is a distinct ramp-up in expectation for this Saturday as Ulster host Ospreys for their European Challenge Cup round of 16.
“We’ve put ourselves in a decent position,” the 33-year-old powerhouse centre pointed out ahead of what he hopes won’t be the province’s only taste of European knockout rugby this weekend.
“Home last 16 here (against the Ospreys), and then we’ve got three home games for the last four in the run-in in the league. But we’ve still got to go and do it, it’s not going to happen for us,” he admitted.
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“We’ll take this week and hopefully move on from there,” McCloskey said, with a possible home quarter-final clash with either Newcastle Red Bulls or La Rochelle on the horizon.
“But I don’t think we’re taking anything lightly, especially after the way the Ospreys played against us earlier in the year (when Ulster lost the URC match-up in Bridgend during February).”
After playing every minute of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign, McCloskey is also still feeling remarkably fresh and ready to showcase his skill set for the province again.
“I’ve probably played quite a lot of rugby, especially this calendar year, but I’m feeling good, and I’m pretty well looked after here.”
Inevitably, the clips of him hunting down Marcus Smith at Twickenham crop up, the footage having gone viral to become one of the most memorable moments of Ireland’s Triple Crown-winning campaign.
“You couldn’t really get away from it, anytime I was on Instagram there were another 100, 200 followers immediately,” he says with a smile.
“I didn’t try to get away from it for a few days, it was nice, we had two or three days off at home, so I just sort of enjoyed it while it lasted.
“Now it’s died down, so it’s just back to normal really, though people still bring it up, like if you’re out having dinner or something, but it’s nice now that it’s not like what it was the first few days.
“Now you can step out without someone trying to talk to you about it.”
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"I don't think we're taking anything lightly" – Stuart McCloskey excited for Ulster's run-in
THOUGH HIS SIX Nations performances will remain a talking point for some time to come, it’s all in the rearview mirror for Stuart McCloskey whose priority now is to help push Ulster onwards.
Even though he turned out for the province for the first time since January last weekend in the URC win at Zebre, there is a distinct ramp-up in expectation for this Saturday as Ulster host Ospreys for their European Challenge Cup round of 16.
“We’ve put ourselves in a decent position,” the 33-year-old powerhouse centre pointed out ahead of what he hopes won’t be the province’s only taste of European knockout rugby this weekend.
“Home last 16 here (against the Ospreys), and then we’ve got three home games for the last four in the run-in in the league. But we’ve still got to go and do it, it’s not going to happen for us,” he admitted.
“We’ll take this week and hopefully move on from there,” McCloskey said, with a possible home quarter-final clash with either Newcastle Red Bulls or La Rochelle on the horizon.
“But I don’t think we’re taking anything lightly, especially after the way the Ospreys played against us earlier in the year (when Ulster lost the URC match-up in Bridgend during February).”
After playing every minute of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign, McCloskey is also still feeling remarkably fresh and ready to showcase his skill set for the province again.
“I’ve probably played quite a lot of rugby, especially this calendar year, but I’m feeling good, and I’m pretty well looked after here.”
Inevitably, the clips of him hunting down Marcus Smith at Twickenham crop up, the footage having gone viral to become one of the most memorable moments of Ireland’s Triple Crown-winning campaign.
“You couldn’t really get away from it, anytime I was on Instagram there were another 100, 200 followers immediately,” he says with a smile.
“I didn’t try to get away from it for a few days, it was nice, we had two or three days off at home, so I just sort of enjoyed it while it lasted.
“Now it’s died down, so it’s just back to normal really, though people still bring it up, like if you’re out having dinner or something, but it’s nice now that it’s not like what it was the first few days.
“Now you can step out without someone trying to talk to you about it.”
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