For all that went wrong for Leinster during a clunky victory last Friday night, something clearly went right for Leo Cullen’s side to come out on top. Two such things happened to be named McCarthy.
The narrative of two siblings bashing their way around the rugby field is already well worn. When Joe came up through the ranks at Leinster, causing excitement as Irish rugby stumbled across a rare oversized lock, the consensus from those who knew the family was: “Wait until you see his brother.”
We’re beginning to see why. The recent Welford Road encounter was a glimpse into one of the better case scenarios of having athletes such as the McCarthys on the park together.
A first sighting came as early as the opening kick-off, Leicester prop Nicky Smith making a carry following the first ruck. The brothers were there to greet him. Joe took Smith’s legs, Paddy clattered into his torso. It wasn’t a dominant hit which will make any highlight reel, but it was a sign of things to come as the duo combined effectively on both sides of the ball.
RM Block
When dealing with players who operate close to the ruck, attacking stats can be misleading. Defensive traffic is at its heaviest in the middle of the park. It’s harder to break the line, beat defenders and rack up yards. Still, both brothers did that to a more than adequate extent in Leicester.
Joe beat three defenders and made 22 metres on 13 carries. Paddy beat one defender but still bashed his way through to 27 metres made (second highest among forwards on the night) in just five carries. Given locks and props carry through the well-stocked heart of the defence, these are strong numbers. Leinster have, on occasion, made it a game planned for Joe to carry in space off lineout attack, albeit not recently.
Combine the data with the eye test. Within the first 10 minutes on Friday, one particular passage of play highlights how the McCarthys threw their weight around. Paddy carried after a loose offload hit the deck and sent Leinster backwards. He beat one tackle to reverse the momentum. Joe followed up with a gainline carry immediately after.
Seconds later, when Jamison Gibson-Park saw an attempted chip blocked, Paddy gathered. He eyed up the defender and thought of taking it in to contact only to instead feed the ball to his brother. Joe made another gainline carry. Cue Paddy picking immediately from the ruck, albeit this time he didn’t make much ground.
The commentator would have used the family name quite a few times in one 30-second sequence. To have players capable of making ground immediately after team-mates were hounded backwards, of carrying through a resurgent line to claw back some sort of momentum, is invaluable. Irish rugby is not awash with natural gainline breakers. Two of the shinier new toys in this regard happen to come from the same household.
They also are both under the age of 25, a feature the share with plenty of other forwards pushing through who boast similar dynamic profiles. Munster’s Edwin Edogbo is 22. Brian Gleeson is 21. Ulster’s James McNabney (22) could well return to this conversation once he recovers from a long-term knee injury. Leinster’s Jack Boyle, suddenly the forgotten man in the powerful prop conversation thanks to Paddy McCarthy’s rise, is 23.
Against Leicester, Boyle notched double-digit metres on a handful of carries. This after a dominant carrying display against the Dragons a fortnight ago which saw four defenders beaten. Boyle won’t have taken kindly to McCarthy overtaking him in the prop depth chart for club and country just months after he was identified as Cian Healy’s replacement behind Andrew Porter.
By definition, a collision sport will always require players for whom dominating contact comes easily. Given Irish rugby’s direction of travel, though, stockpiling these athletes is becoming more important.
For whatever reason, be it playing with less of the ball, a misfiring attack, or tired payers after a Lions year, Ireland averaged fewer metres after contact per match during the recent November campaign than the same period last year (216 versus 266). Similarly, the same figure for the 2025 Six Nations was a drop-off from 2024 (246 versus 328).
While a few more young bucks barging through contact won’t fix everything, it is not a coincidence that all of the above names have been fast-tracked into an Irish set-up (or at least attempts have been made, Gleeson and Edogbo falling foul of poorly-timed injuries).
As far as the McCarthys are concerned, Friday night probably saw Joe just about shade the family battle, thanks in large part to his position seeing him stay on the pitch for 80 minutes. He scrummed behind Rabah Slimani on a tighthead side which earned multiple second-half penalties, while a deft offload late in the game showed a slight of hand which can be paired with the grunt work. Paddy, for his part, did concede a handful of scrum penalties.
After the match, the elder McCarthy spoke of his levels rising because of his brother’s presence. They’ve only played on the same field three times so far. “He motivates me, he’s on my back in the games. ‘Joe, you’ve got more in you!’”
Given Joe’s player of the match display, maybe the two should line out together more often. In green as well as blue.
