McCarthy more hungry for success with Leinster after return from Six Nations
He was as disappointed as anyone with the way Ireland’s 2025 campaign ended, but as he aims to challenge for success with Leinster in the coming weeks, Joe McCarthy has stressed the Six Nations is now very much in the past.
Having started every game during their march towards the Championship in 2024, McCarthy was looking to help Ireland secure a third title on the bounce in this year’s Six Nations. Yet despite securing a Triple Crown with just three rounds played, a comprehensive 42-27 defeat to France at the Aviva Stadium on March 8 ultimately played a huge part in Ireland finishing third in the final Championship standings.
This made it a somewhat underwhelming spring international window for McCarthy – who missed the opening two rounds of the Championship – but a month on from the end of the tournament, his focus has very much switched back to provincial rugby.
“You’re disappointed after it [the France game]. You missed the opportunity, but you had a game the next week [against Italy] we tried to get up for. We probably didn’t play our best even again the next week, but there is definitely just a good feeling now. We’ve kind of moved on from that and we’re trying to chase down success with Leinster now,” McCarthy remarked at a Leinster media briefing in UCD yesterday.
“I was buzzing to come back into Leinster. It’s such a good environment we have here. Obviously in Ireland as well we’ve a great environment, but I was super excited to get back up and playing. Obviously we didn’t win a Six Nations or anything, so you’re even more hungry to get back and be successful with Leinster.”
McCarthy couldn’t have asked for a better return to Leinster duty as his two appearances for the eastern province since the end of the Six Nations have been in utterly emphatic wins over Harlequins (62-0) and Glasgow Warriors (52-0) in the knockout stages of the European Champions Cup.
Although Leinster will be desperate to triumph in Europe’s top-tier this term after losing three Champions Cup deciders in succession, the United Rugby Championship is also a major target for the Blues.
He is one of five players who will be assessed later in the week before a decision is made about his availability for this Saturday’s URC clash with Ulster at the Aviva Stadium, but McCarthy is pleased that his younger brother Paddy is close to full fitness again following a recent lay-off.
Currently in his first season as a member of the Leinster squad, Paddy was sidelined for a number of months before he eventually saw game time off the bench against the Stormers and Ospreys in the URC earlier this year.
Although the promising prop also featured for Ireland ‘A’ in their international duel with England ‘A’ at Ashton Gate in Bristol on February 23, another injury picked up in training shortly afterwards ruled him out of contention for some of Leinster’s most recent fixtures.
The elder McCarthy knows from experience that injuries can materialise when a player steps up from an academy squad to a senior set-up, but he is hopeful his brother won’t have any more set-backs in the near future.
“He’s had a tough season with injuries. He got injured in training a week after that England v Ireland ‘A’ game. I found that myself. When you come up to senior rugby, it probably takes a little bit of time to adjust. He’s probably going through that now, so hopefully he can have a good run now until the end of the season,” McCarthy added.