Joe McCarthy reunites with family in Leinster after World Cup learning curve

The McCarthy boys had a blast at training last week. Paddy was part of the matchday squad for the Edinburgh game, Joe stepped up the work detail on his return from Ireland World Cup duty. Andrew, their brother with Down syndrome and a member of the Seapoint Dragons, was there in his capacity as Leinster’s culture captain for the week, an admirable initiative pioneered by Energia.

Joe McCarthy, who will make his competitive bow this season when Leinster take on the Dragons in Sunday’s URC game at Rodney Parade (1.15pm), outlined what it was like to have Andrew on board for the week. He smiled: “It was awesome, class. He was helping the kit man out before the game and everything. [I] don’t think he was much use at that.

“He loved it, he was buzzing. I was watching the game in the dugout with all the players, and he was in with us. He’s a massive sports fan. I think it was a pretty good initiative from Energia to have him in showing that sport is accessible for everyone.

“He loves rugby, plays with a disability tag rugby team. He was buzzing being in for the week and I think the lads enjoyed having him around. It was kind of a good vibe, and he got a lot out of it.”

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Joe and Paddy reciprocate, when possible, going to watch Andrew in action for the Seapoint Dragons. Joe explained: “Yeah, I coached when I was in fourth year [at schools], and I’ve gone down for a few sessions here and there.

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“Also, he does loads of sports. He’d do basketball for a team. Me and Paddy have gone down and joined in a few 5v5 games they play, which is good craic. Some of the lads are unbelievable. It’s great.”

Joe is getting used to spending more time with Paddy, an Under-20 Six Nations Grand Slam winner and World Junior Championship finalist, now that his younger brother has broken into the Leinster senior set-up. “I suppose I can give him advice, but he doesn’t really like to listen to me on anything,” laughs Joe. “He likes to do things his own way.”

While McCarthy’s game time at the World Cup was limited, the secondrow was a try scorer against Romania, his first for his country and then he came on in the 59th minute in the quarter-final defeat to New Zealand to win his fifth cap.

Putting the disappointment to one side, the tournament proved to be a brilliant educational process for the 22-year-old lock. “You are with all the world class players for almost 24-hours a day. You are with the coaches the whole time and they can pick you up for a small bit [of one-on-one chats]. You see how guys prepare for games, the bits of video they do, the recovery work, things like that.

“It was an intensive learning block for eight weeks. You work with all the coaches, especially Paul O’Connell for me. He is the best person you can learn [from]; he would sit down with me, and we would talk about everything, trends in the game or he would pull up a clip.

“I am always working on my lineout, it would be a big thing for me to become a better jumper, calling, lineout defence, those areas are your main core skills as a secondrow. It was great being in camp for the whole time because every training session he’d have a clip for me, a small lift or a jump.”

McCarthy is an avid rugby watcher, drilling into the detail in his quest to be a better player. “I find there’s a real good benefit in watching other world class players. I liked [watching former All Black secondrow] Brad Thorn back in the day when he was playing for Leinster.

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“He was big into his gym and a hard player, loved to scrummage. Then you see players like [Eben] Etzebeth, how he’s going. I think he has improved at the back end of his career. [Maro] Itoje was another when I was a bit younger, I remember when he was breaking onto the scene. I always find it good to steal some other things from other players if you can, find that helpful.”

McCarthy has made both a noticeable progression in the style and substance of his performances since breaking into the Ireland Under-20 team a year young. He explained: “You always want to keep your point of difference there, push that. I think if you look at the way Ireland and Leinster play, you must keep evolving as a player, have a rounded skillset.

“Rugby is one of those sports that all 15 players have to [be able to] do everything. You can’t really get away with not being almost world class at everything. You always want to double down at what you are good at and what sets you apart from other players. I am always trying to evolve my game.”

He’s managing quite nicely with the prospect of much more to come.