Latest news with #TbilisiCup
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- 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.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
No animals were harmed in the making of this interview with Stuart McCloskey
Stu McCloskey's patter ensures that the interview is punctuated with laughter. A player investing a little personality and humour into this particular set-piece environment is all too rare and therefore to be celebrated. At 32-years-old the Bangor native doesn't need to be fearful of saying the wrong thing. That's a door he closed long ago when negotiating a rite of passage from a wide-eyed tyro to one of Ulster 's most enduring and consistently excellent performers, with 19 Ireland caps to his name. He's the senior figure in the 33-man Ireland squad for the upcoming Tests against Georgia and Portugal, a tag that would have belonged to Finlay Bealham before the Connacht prop's call-up to the Lions tour . McCloskey is mock resentful at being cast as Methuselah, but he can't escape the historical references. He once played in and won the Tbilisi Cup, 10 years ago in the Georgian capital, a tournament that included the host nation, Emerging Ireland, Emerging Italy and Uruguay. READ MORE His abiding memory? 'I remember the zoo. It was the time the animals escaped from the zoo.' Tbilisi was hit by a landslide and flooding that destroyed parts of the city. Half of the zoo's inhabitants were killed and several surviving inhabitants including a hippopotamus, big cats, bears, wolves and hyenas escaped their confinement and took to the streets. The police were forced to shoot some, others were recaptured, the hippo made its way to a flooded Heroes' Square, while an African penguin was found at the Red Bridge border crossing with Azerbaijan, 60km south of Tbilisi. Stuart McCloskey has tended to make his mark whenever he has played for Ireland. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Saturday's game is in a much bigger stadium than the one in which McCloskey played in 2015, but he recalls 'a nice hotel and the architecture in the squares more so than the games themselves'. 'I was pretty naive to what professional rugby was 10 years ago, didn't really know what I was up to, but a few years under the belt, a few more grey hairs and I think I know what I'm about these days.' There's one other story that dates McCloskey. To the best of his knowledge, he is the only one in the squad who has played against the interim head coach Paul O'Connell . The centre sets the scene. 'Ulster sent down the biggest B team of all time, because it was dead rubber at the end of the season. Munster had their best team out. 'I remember it very well, actually. I think Michael Heaney scored a try. They were trying to get to second, I think. We were fourth, and couldn't go up or down. It was back in the Pro 12 days. We got the win. I think it was my fourth cap.' So, has he dropped that into the conversation with his coach? McCloskey smiled: 'No, but I'd like to think that he knows. No, as a player [O'Connell] was incredibly intimidating. We all were terrified of him. I think I was in one [Ireland] training camp with him. [As a coach] he has that intimidation factor, but I think he's very personable. 'He lets the young guys come out of their shells, not very different to what Faz [Andy Farrell] is like. I'm sure he's watched Faz over the last three or four years and learned a lot from that. [It's about] how does he put his own stamp on it, I suppose? There hasn't been a great deal of difference. 'He's probably seemed quite laid back to me, but I suppose being the oldest in the group, it's easy to feel a bit more laid back when you're 32 years of age, not 20.' McCloskey's most recent cap was against Fiji last November. Injuries fractured his playing time a little, but he did get back into Ireland training camp towards the end of the Six Nations. He's been largely very good when called upon in the course of his Test career, one that includes a strike-rate of a try every four matches. It's just that he's facing very stiff competition, two of whom, Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki, are on the Lions tour, while Robbie Henshaw, currently injured, is, like Aki, is a two-time Lions tourist. McCloskey said: 'I don't think I'm doing a lot wrong. I think when I played, it went well.' He paused for a moment when asked what areas he'd like to enhance in his game. 'Probably a bit more physicality in defence. I think I've got most things in attack. Overall, I don't think there's a lot in it. I think [if] a few decisions go my way I'm standing here with a few more caps.' Joking aside, he's content to be the elder statesman, his nature calm and laid back. That shouldn't be mistaken for a lack of desire. He, more than most, understands that a good summer can be harvested in November when the full squad comes back together. He'll be keen to do what he does best – go forward.
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘There were alligators and hippos running wild on the streets of Tbilisi' – Billy Holland recalls eventful 2015 visit to Georgia
Emerging Ireland's 2015 Tbilisi Cup opening win over Italy is unlikely to ring a bell with most people. Unless, of course, you were part of the squad – in which case the facile 25-0 victory provided the precursor to an unforgettable night on what proved to be a tour like no other. 'We decided we were going to celebrate like we'd won the World Cup,' recalls Billy Holland, the self-confessed veteran of the group.
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Tour grandad Stuart McCloskey still adding strings to his bow
Whichever end of the age spectrum in a rugby squad a player may find themselves, the reminders of said fact are constant. Just ask Henry Pollock, tour baby with the British & Irish Lions and designated custodian of the stuffed big cat for the duration of the trip to Australia. For Stuart McCloskey, the grandad of the Ireland squad newly arrived in Tbilisi ahead of Saturday's Test against Georgia, there is the good-natured barracking he receives from interim head coach Paul O'Connell, who is expected to name the 32-year-old at inside centre on Thursday. It was not meant to be the Ulster midfielder's role on this two-Test tour which will move onto Portugal after Saturday's one-off Test, yet the withdrawal of Scotland tighthead Zander Fagerson from the Lions squad due to injury meant a promotion for Ireland's Finlay Bealham, 33, which left McCloskey as the senior man in an inexperienced Irish squad. 'Finlay Bealham absolutely did me in going to the Lions,' a vexed McCloskey said ahead of Ireland's departure from Dublin. 'I messaged him straightaway being like 'you've completely mugged me here, I'm the oldest now'. 'He (O'Connell) gets a dig in most days about how old I am, but I'm still faster than all those young lads anyway, I've got a few more years left in me. I keep telling Jacob (Stockdale) and Nick Timoney I'll outlast them, so I'll get them at some stage.' Being reminded his last trip to Georgia as an Emerging Ireland squad member at the Tbilisi Cup a decade ago was not a helpful reminder of McCloskey's status and the Ulsterman said: 'You're ageing me here, I already feel old among these lads, Paulie did it to me the other day as well. Do I remember much of it? No, I remember the zoo, it was the time the animals escaped from the zoo. 'Yeah, I was pretty naive to what professional rugby was 10 years ago. I didn't really know what I was up to, but a few years under the belt, a few more grey hairs and I think I know what I'm about these days.' With Robbie Henshaw injured and both Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose on Lions duty, McCloskey seems sure to add to his 19 caps over the next two weeks, with Jamie Osborne his likely midfield partner at 13 and his experience tells him every cap is a downpayment on future recognition. Asked what his mindset for this tour was, he replied: 'First of all, play well. I still think I've got a bit of rugby to go in my career, I think I have a few years left. 'So this Lions period the last time, when we played America and Japan (in 2021), sort of springboarded me on to get a lot more caps and be a lot more involved. I think I've been involved in two Six Nations wins in that time and a World Cup. 'Hopefully I'll put a good foot forward for any games coming up over the next few years and keep my head around the place and push into the next World Cup. 'I don't think I'm doing a lot wrong. 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 (with the Lions) 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. 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.' For now, his chief problem is the boss's chirping, but McCloskey revealed he has an ace up his sleeve to deal to O'Connell, though he admitted the former Munster and Ireland captain used to terrify him as an opponent. 'I think I was in one training camp with him. I think I'm the only one in the squad to have played a game against him as well. We won down at Thomond that day (in May 2014) for Ulster, I'll not mention that to him, hopefully that comes up and he sees that. 'No, as a player, incredibly intimidating, you see some of the clips of him from back in the day and he'd (be) red carded basically every week (currently) for what he did but I think he knows that himself now. It was a different time. 'Intimidating as a player, as a coach he has that intimidation factor but I think he's very personable. He lets the young guys come out of their shell, a bit like what Faz is like. He's watched Faz over the past three, four years and learned a lot from that. How has he put his own stamp on it? There hasn't been a great deal different. He's seemed quite laidback to me, but with me being the oldest in the group it's easy to feel a bit more laidback when you're 32, not 20.'
