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Irish Daily Mirror
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ireland's summer tour leaves fans wondering 'what was the point?'
Ireland ended their Summer tour with a comprehensive hammering of Portugal, beating the European side on a scoreline of 106 to 7. With the win, a number of records were set by Ireland including the most points they have ever scored in a test match (106), the highest margin of victory (99), the most tries in a match (16) and the most conversion landed (12). But despite these numbers, many fans were left disappointed by the tour as a whole and questioned the reasoning behind it. While Ireland's first game with Georgia was more competitive (34-5), they're drubbing of Portugal was seen by many as a pointless exercise. Speaking to Virgin Sports, interim manager Paul O'Connell summed up the situation by saying: "I feel sorry for Portugal, but we were very clinical and took our chances. 'It is a unique summer tour given the Lions tour is on at the same time, but I am very happy with how our squad applied themselves. 'It is great to get some guys capped and scoring tries and training in an international environment.' When have you ever heard an Irish coach apologising to the opposition for beating them so badly? Never, and that's because things like this shouldn't really happen. Ireland will have gained no benefit from that Portugal game at all. The performance makes no difference to Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley's duel for the number 10 shirt, and while Craig Casey was Tour captain, he hardly needed to exhibit too many leadership qualities across the 80 minutes on Saturday. Yes, some players made their debuts, but can anyone really say they impressed in a fixture like that? Making matters worse, Ireland cruised past two teams who are miles behind them and they did it with what amounts to a 'C' team as so many of the top Irish stars are on Lions duty. They even did it without head coach Andy Farrell and number two Simon Easterby. I'm sure some readers will be wondering why people are wondering why this article is being so negative. Well, just take a quick look on social media and you will see that most fans believe this two tour test series - particularly the Portugal game - was a pointless endeavour. Here's a selection of the comments under an Irish Rugby post that boasted about setting these records against Portugal: "Can somebody explain the logic behind this kind of fixture?" "Not sure anyone learnt anything from that…" "Absolutely joke. @IrishRugby should be ashamed of themselves for arranging this fixture. How the hell can Portugal come back from this? Pathetic." "What's the point in this game?" "Waste of a game." "What's the point of that?" "Pointless game though" "What a load of pointless rubbish. And Portugal is the 21st Nation that Ireland has awarded caps for playing against! Think about that. More teams play hockey." 14-uncapped players were named by O'Connell in the squad this Summer. How many of them or any of the squad in for that matter will in Ireland camp in November or next Spring for the Six Nations? Another Emerging Ireland tour with uncapped youngsters playing players of similar or better quality would have been far more beneficial. Maybe players could have been given time to sharpen up on their skills. Sam Prendergast for example is often criticised for his tackling technique. Would he not have been better served using these Summer months to hone his craft and put on some size away from the spotlight? Or better yet, maybe players could have been given a much needed summer off after a long season. Next up for Ireland is a test match in November with the New Zealand All Blacks, a match that promises to be far more competitive and indeed beneficial to the team.
Irish Examiner
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Paul O'Connell on Portugal pasting: "We can only beat what is put in front of us"
A record win for Ireland and a biggest ever defeat for Portugal, but Paul O'Connell was more interested in effort and attitude than any line his team added to the history books in Lisbon on Saturday evening. The 106-7 defeat of the Portuguese by his second-string side made for the biggest ever victory and the most points scored in the history of the men's senior Test team. For the hosts it was a black day in the history less than two years since a breakthrough World Cup. Ireland claimed 16 tries and conceded just the one against a Tier 2 team that was blown away from minute one, and the interim head coach put it that all his side could do was tend to their own garden on the night at the Estadio Nacional. 'Listen, we can only beat what is put in front of us and they have performed quite well against Scotland and South Africa in the last few years so we were ready for a big challenge. And it wasn't about them really, it was more about us. 'It wasn't even about the rugby we were going to play. It was more about our mentality and that was a big part for us in terms of how they prepared and how they played. I was hoping it would be sticky and we would see what we were like. 'Then when we were pulling away I was kind of excited to see what our mentality would be like and how we were going to set our own standards. I was really pleased in that. They didn't care about the scoreline, they just kept playing as hard as they could. 'I love seeing some of the kick-chase stuff late in the game. It really shows the mentality of the players so I was really pleased from that point of view. The scoreline isn't ideal and it's not good for them but I was happy with the mentality.' Captain Craig Casey echoed that. The Munsterman said there was no talk of hitting triple digits at half-time when they led 52-0. And Casey had no idea that Ireland's standing record win at that point was an 83-3 defeat of the USA in New Hampshire in 2003. 'God no, no.' For O'Connell, who also guided the side to a comfortable win against Georgia last weekend, the tour has been proof that there are enough players down the depth chart in Ireland to blossom when offered the opportunity. 'We've seen it on the Emerging Ireland tour, just guys dying for the chance. They will do everything and anything once they get their chance. They are great tourists to coach, guys with an incredible attitude and it's your job as coaches not to 'f' that up.' For Portugal, this shows up just how far behind they are. A side that defeated Fiji in France in the global tournament in 2023 was no match for an Irish side flooded with players looking to make their mark and head coach Simon Mannix made the claim that this was a clear reflection of the road they need to travel. 'Explain it? I'm not sure that I can explain it. If it was a boxing fight it would have been called off at half-time,' said the man who once coached at Munster. 'We have bluffed ourselves in the last 12 months believing that we could perform. 'We're not in a performance space at all, we are in a total reset. We are in a development phase, Portuguese rugby, because of the hole that was left after the World Cup in 2023. We need to do a whole rest on what we are doing as a union, what we are doing with our players. 'We are starting to do that, those processes are in place. It is very difficult to play a Tier 1 nation when 1: you don't have access to your players, 2: the players have had no preparation to come and play this game with no warm-up game. 'And 3: we have had players coming off of ten weeks playing in a local championship that just cannot prepare them for this type of opposition, which is an outstandingly organised rugby team. 'Rather than throwing out excuses, we knew where we were at. Did we think we would be a hundred points worse than Ireland? No we didn't. Are we disappointed? We are absolutely devastated but we will work. Good things will come through if we work hard.'
Irish Independent
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Experienced Stuart McCloskey hoping taking senior role on summer tour can help him push on to 2027 World Cup
Stuart McCloskey has a few more grey hairs since winning the Tbilisi Cup in 2015 on an Emerging Ireland side that included Andrew Conway, Finlay Bealham and Rob Herring.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
McCloskey comfortable being Ireland's elder statesman
McCloskey made his Ireland debut in 2016 and played at the 2023 World Cup [Getty Images] When Stuart McCloskey last represented Ireland in Georgia, 10 years ago, his world looked a lot different. Fresh off winning Ulster's young player of the year award at the end of his first full season in senior rugby, he travelled with the Emerging Ireland squad for the now-defunct Tbilisi Cup in 2015. Advertisement Then just 22, McCloskey admits he was "pretty naive". Now, with nearly a decade of Test experience and over 200 Ulster caps under his belt, he has a "few more grey hairs" and knows "what I'm about these days". This much is true. Even within the controlled environment of a news conference, McCloskey is able to show that he is comfortable in his own skin. Finlay Bealham's British and Irish Lions call-up means he is the elder statesmen of interim head coach Paul O'Connell's Ireland squad. He jokes that Bealham "absolutely did me in" and admits O'Connell "gets a dig in most days about how old I am", but he seems happy being the only squad member to have celebrated his 30th birthday. Advertisement He also likes to tell Ulster team-mates Jacob Stockdale and Nick Timoney he will outlast them. "I'm happy to be the calm head," says McCloskey, who will turn 33 in August. "I feel like that's normally what I am in these teams no matter who's playing around me, but there's plenty of guys there like Craig [Casey] and Sam [Prendergast] who've run the backline very well over the last few weeks in here. "Sam's come in in the Six Nations and done very well so I'll just play off them, give them the space and hopefully they run in a few tries for us. During the last Lions tour in 2021, McCloskey furthered his case for a spot in the Ireland starting line-up with tries in wins over Japan and the United States. Advertisement Through no fault of his own, it hasn't quite panned out that way, but considering the constant presence of Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose, 19 caps represents a solid return to this point for a player who was not offered a place in Ulster's academy after leaving Bangor Grammar. "I don't think I'm doing a lot wrong," he says. "I think when I've played I've went well, it's just there's four very good centres in the lads, two of them are away [Aki and Ringrose] and you could argue Robbie would've been away as well if he wasn't injured, so I don't think I'm too far off it. "What can I do better? Keep improving on a few things, probably a bit more physicality in defence, I think I've got most things in attack. Advertisement "[I'll try to] add a few more strings to my bow, whether that's breakdown or poach threat, but overall I don't think there's a lot in it. A few decisions go my way, I'm sitting here with a few more caps." Ulster's 19-17 win over Munster in 2014 was McCloskey's second start for the province [Getty Images] McCloskey, whose last Ireland start came against Italy in February 2024, is expected to partner Jamie Osborne in the midfield in Saturday's Test against Georgia. Osborne, 23, is known as one of Ireland's most versatile players. He can play at either inside or outside centre and started at full-back and right wing against Wales and France in this year's Six Nations. Advertisement "Jamie's been great. He's the kind of guy that slips into any position fairly well," said McCloskey. "You can play him anywhere over the backline and he'll do a great job. We've had a good combination going there the last couple of days. "He's physical, he's got all the skills and everything you'd want in a rugby player. I'm sure he'll go on and get a lot more caps under his belt over the next 10 years." As for himself, McCloskey wants to use the Georgia and Portugal games to stake his claim ahead of a glamorous autumn programme that includes Ireland's rematch against the All Blacks in Chicago and a home Test against double world champions South Africa. Advertisement That means impressing O'Connell, who he played against in the old Pro12 days. "Ulster sent down the biggest B team of all time because it was a dead rubber at the end of the season and Munster had their best team out," McCloskey recalls of Ulster's 19-17 win at Thomond Park in May 2014. "I remember it very well. Michael Heaney scored a try, they were trying to get to second and we were fourth, couldn't go up or down, it was back in the Pro12 days and we got the win, I think it was my fourth cap." Perhaps he mentions it to O'Connell when the towering Irish icon brings us McCloskey's age? "No, but I like to think he knows it. I'm trying to get picked this week!"
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
McCloskey comfortable being Ireland's elder statesman
When Stuart McCloskey last represented Ireland in Georgia, 10 years ago, his world looked a lot different. Fresh off winning Ulster's young player of the year award at the end of his first full season in senior rugby, he travelled with the Emerging Ireland squad for the now-defunct Tbilisi Cup in just 22, McCloskey admits he was "pretty naive" back then. Now, with nearly a decade of Test experience and over 200 Ulster caps under his belt, he has a "few more grey hairs" and knows "what I'm about these days". This much is true. Even within the controlled environment of a press conference, McCloskey is able to show that he is comfortable in his own Bealham's British and Irish Lions call-up means he is the elder statesmen of interim head coach Paul O'Connell's Ireland squad. He jokes that Bealham "absolutely did me in" and admits O'Connell "gets a dig in most days about how old I am", but he seems happy being the only squad member to have celebrated his 30th birthday. He also likes to tell Ulster team-mates Jacob Stockdale and Nick Timoney he will outlast them."I'm happy to be the calm head," says McCloskey, who will turn 33 in August."I feel like that's normally what I am in these teams no matter who's playing around me, but there's plenty of guys there like Craig [Casey] and Sam [Prendergast] who've run the backline very well over the last few weeks in here. "Sam's come in in the Six Nations and done very well so I'll just play off them, give them the space and hopefully they run in a few tries for us. During the last Lions tour in 2021, McCloskey furthered his case for a spot in the Ireland starting line-up with tries in wins over Japan and the United States. Through no fault of his own, it hasn't quite panned out that way, but considering the constant presence of Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose, 19 caps represents a solid return to this point for a player who was not offered a place in Ulster's academy after leaving Bangor Grammar."I don't think I'm doing a lot wrong," he says. "I think when I've played I've went well, it's just there's four very good centres in the lads, two of them are away [Aki and Ringrose] and you could argue Robbie would've been away as well if he wasn't injured, so I don't think I'm too far off it. "What can I do better? Keep improving on a few things, probably a bit more physicality in defence, I think I've got most things in attack. "[I'll try to] add a few more strings to my bow, whether that's breakdown or poach threat, but overall I don't think there's a lot in it. A few decisions go my way, I'm sitting here with a few more caps." McCloskey, whose last Ireland start came against Italy in February 2024, is expected to partner Jamie Osborne in the midfield in Saturday's Test against Georgia. Osborne, 23, is known as one of Ireland's most versatile players. He can play at either inside or outside centre and started at full-back and right wing against Wales and France in this year's Six Nations. "Jamie's been great. He's the kind of guy that slips into any position fairly well," said McCloskey. "You can play him anywhere over the backline and he'll do a great job. We've had a good combination going there the last couple of days. "He's physical, he's got all the skills and everything you'd want in a rugby player. I'm sure he'll go on and get a lot more caps under his belt over the next 10 years."As for himself, McCloskey wants to use the Georgia and Portugal games to stake his claim ahead of a glamorous autumn programme that includes Ireland's rematch against the All Blacks in Chicago and a home Test against double world champions South means impressing O'Connell, who he played against in the old Pro12 days."Ulster sent down the biggest B team of all time because it was a dead rubber at the end of the season and Munster had their best team out," McCloskey recalls of Ulster's 19-17 win at Thomond Park in May 2014. "I remember it very well. Michael Heaney scored a try, they were trying to get to second and we were fourth, couldn't go up or down, it was back in the Pro12 days and we got the win, I think it was my fourth cap."Perhaps he mentions it to O'Connell when the towering Irish icon brings us McCloskey's age?"No, but I like to think he knows it. I'm trying to get picked this week!"
