WORLD CUP WARM-UP: EVER SINCE Dan Tuohy was first picked, and capped, on the summer tour to New Zealand and Australia two years ago, the Irish management have been consistently looking at the credentials of a versatile back five forward with the World Cup 30-man squad in mind.
Indeed, Mike McCarthy was named in the original Six Nations squad last season and the management specifically asked Connacht to move him from lock back to blindside at one point in the campaign.
The 29-year-old London-born McCarthy has been interesting Kidney and forwards coach Gert Smal, a known fan, since at least the start of last season.
Originally a backrower, he qualifies for Ireland by dint of his grandparents, who hail from Belmullet in Co Mayo, and played for Ireland at under-21 level.
However, having failed to make the cut for the Irish under-21 World Cup squad, he ended up playing for the English under-21s at the 2002 World Cup.
His mother, who lives in Newcastle, was the first to be informed of his selection and will probably make it up to Edinburgh for the game while as of yesterday, he had still to contact other relatives in London, Portlaoise and Belmullet.
He was converted into a second row by Warren Gatland during his spell at Wasps, reverting to number six in one season at Connacht and at Newcastle. Now in the fifth year of his second stint at Connacht, returning to lock in the last couple of seasons has rejuvenated his career.
“Mike I knew from playing underage and playing in Newcastle that he had played a fair bit at six,” said Kidney yesterday, “and he has been playing in the secondrow for a while now, so we just asked Connacht to give him a chance at six and see how it went.
“It’s the same with other guys in that situation, such as Donnacha Ryan, we asked Munster to do that, and with Leinster we talked about Kevin playing secondrow, and with their help they all got a run there.”
Regarding McCarthy, Kidney reckoned: “He’s probably a nightmare to train with in pre-season because he’s always out in front. He’s very athletic, he’d be one of the top trainers. You look at Connacht’s lineout stats – they’ve been excellent, though obviously that comes down to more than a jumper.
“He’s got good ball-handling, and after that we won’t put any more helium into the balloon,” Kidney joked, “because that will only make Saturday more difficult for him. He’s alright. He’s got a bit of an accent, but sure we’ll get over it.”
This tallies with Connacht’s view of him as their line-out caller, which supplements terrific mobility, ball-carrying and work-rate. “It is a really big opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it,” said McCarthy yesterday. “After a good few weeks of pre-season and hard work, getting the chance to play is the easy part, I just want to put a good shift in and hopefully impress all the coaches.”
It’s been a long road for McCarthy but one which is also a credit to Connacht. “I’m 29 now . . . but I’ve always felt I was good enough, I’ve always backed myself and I’ve always worked hard, and I’m just delighted to get a chance.
“I’m very grateful to Connacht. There’s great coaches there; Dan McFarland has really helped me in the forwards there and Eric (Elwood) as well. . . .”
As to his somewhat belated debut, McCarthy said: “I don’t think anything was stopping me . . . there’s fierce competition with a lot of great players out there, so I just waiting to get a chance.”
