JOE McCARTHY could be surrounded by a trio of familiar faces when Leinster host Leicester tomorrow evening.

Having faced the Tigers in the pool stages of this season’s Champions Cup — touching down in a 27-10 victory at Welford Road — the 6ft  6in giant lock came up against Leicester’s George Martin, Ollie Chessum and Dan Cole when Ireland lost to England in the Six Nations last month.

McCarthy, 23, said: “They’re different teams but there’s obviously a lot of players who played in that game. We take a bit of confidence from that. It’s a very separate game, but we’ll be looking to go out and put a bit of a statement in this game.”

The former Blackrock College student had a compelling battle with Martin in the second row during the England encounter.

Much of the same will be expected if both men are selected at the Aviva Stadium.

Yet the motivation for McCarthy and Leinster will centre around the team performance in this last-16 clash. He added: “It’s very different, you’re playing for Leinster.

“They still play a bit differently, even though there’s aspects obviously with the English players, but we haven’t really spoken about that.

“It’s a knockout game for the Champions Cup, so I don’t need much more added motivation. We’re looking to just try and win, because we want to win the Champions Cup.

“All focus is on just winning this game. I find you can’t get too involved and overthink individual battles because it’s a team performance you’re looking to get.”

McCarthy has had an eventful few months in green. Having failed to claim major silverware with Leinster since making his debut in January 2022, he has played a major role in Ireland winning back-to-back Six Nations titles.

While he was named in the squad for last year’s campaign, an ankle injury sustained after being released back to the province between rounds meant he did not play a part in the Grand Slam success.

However, he lined out twice at last year’s World Cup and on the back of his provincial form, started all five games in this year’s Six Nations.

He was named man of the match on his competition debut in the opening-night victory over France.

McCarthy said: “To play in every game is class, it’s exactly what you want.

“I have had a few campaigns within the Ireland camp and it’s still class, because you get all the coaching.

“You get all the bits when you’re in the squad but you don’t actually get to be there on match-days much.

“To get backed by the coaches was unbelievable for the five games, it was class.

“I felt like I got a lot better and probably got a lot more confidence after playing against those European nations. I felt good after.”