Better late than never for 'vindicated' Stuart McCloskey

It's 10 years since McCloskey learned that moments like he's having right now for Ireland do not last forever

Stuart McCloskey made his Ireland debut in 2016 but has just 26 caps to his name. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

When you’re hot, you’re hot. And the ‘Irish Fridge’ is on fire. Nicknamed ‘le Frigo Irlandais’ in France, where his barnstorming and eye-catching displays seem to have caught the eye, Stuart McCloskey is having a moment.

He’s 33 now and he knows how this works. The old line about the gap that separates a pat on the back and a boot in the arse doesn’t need explaining. For now, it’s all good and he is getting a right good kick out of it.

“It felt like every time I opened Instagram for two or three days it was just my face. My missus was laughing. I was taking the kids to school on Monday and there were people genuinely stopping cars at the side of the road to say well done. She was like: ‘What is going on here?’” 

McCloskey has made big hits and hard yards in this Six Nations. He has produced offloads that bring to my mind the great All Black Sonny Bill Williams who the Ulsterman describes as the GOAT when it comes to that particular department of the game.

And, in chasing Marcus Smith down at Twickenham, he produced a memory for the ages.

Andy Farrell put that snapshot in context after the 42-21 win over England when he explained how McCloskey had failed to react in a similar situation in training earlier in the week. He didn’t need to be told twice, and the result was glorious.

“Honestly it wasn’t in my mind at all in the moment, but I do remember the clip he’d showed us on the Tuesday. And it’s not that Andy went through a couple of us, but he just pointed it out. A couple of us were still struggling a little bit with soreness from the [Italy game].

“But he’s right, you’ve got to chase back every one. Maybe it sticks with you subconsciously, or if it’s in the back of your head you’ll chase. But I think in any big game like that, you’re gonna chase. I just had a good angle on him.” 

It’s not that McCloskey has changed anything. There has been no radical turn or tweak.

Stuart McCloskey drags England's Marcus Smith into touch during the Six Nations match at Twickenham. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The man has always felt he was good enough for this level and he explains this form as nothing more than the continual build of experience – he has over 250 pro games played now – and the understanding of what it is he has to do on both sides of the ball.

Physically? He’s a bit bigger now with an extra nine or so kilos on his frame compared to a decade ago, and his turn of pace is clearly up to standard given his viral moment in catching Smith in London late in that second-half.

Even here though, perspective is everything.

As with now, McCloskey started the first three games of the 2023 Championship only for a calf injury to bring that run to an end and re-open the door for Bundee Aki whose form from that point on was unchallengeable for the next 18 months.

These things happen. McCloskey fitted in where and when he could again. There were days when he went unused as the 24th man, some when he got a rare run off the bench. So, yes, it feels good to have praise ringing in his ear now.

"Yeah, like, it's nice to hear. I probably feel somewhat vindicated for all the years of slogging it out and not getting too much love, so it's been nice, but you've got to enjoy it while it lasts. These things don't last forever.” It’s ten years since he got that lesson. Loud and clear.

His Test debut came in Twickenham in February of 2016 against England and, while Ireland lost, the common consensus was that the young inside-centre from Bangor had enjoyed a brilliant first run in the green shirt.

Joe Schmidt didn’t exactly start up a fan club. The then Ireland head coach was a hard taskmaster who drilled the need for systems and structures into his players. A midfielder who liked to play the ball out of the tackle didn’t fit those patterns.

Having players like Aki and Robbie Henshaw, who were playing superb rugby through their prime years, available for the same shirt played a huge role too. All told, of the 119 Tests Ireland played between then and last week, McCloskey has appeared in just 26.

When the player looks back now to that first outing in Twickenham he considers it an amazing experience that was ultimately “tainted” by the fact that his second cap didn’t come for another 18 months.

“Ah, I don't know what the craic was with Joe. I don't think we saw eye to eye.... Listen, I'm glad he’s not coaching here now, but he's done some amazing things as a coach. Sometimes coaches and players are not on the same page, I don't know what it was but I wasn't for him. I never spoke to him.” 

There is no venom in any of this. McCloskey was simply giving an honest response to a question that has been put to him time and again down the years. Water on the bridge, he called it. Why live in the past when the present is so cool?