Stuart McCloskey: In-form center relishes Ireland’s revival after ‘years of struggle’

It’s been the other way around this time, with Ake suspended for the opening three matches of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign, opening the door for McCluskey to stake his claim once again.

While Ireland’s campaign got off to a slow start with a crushing defeat to France before escaping a scare against Italy, it all came together against England.

McCloskey was a key figure in that game, making line breaks, creating chances and laying down tackles that culminated with a final tackle on Smith, who looked safe to save a bonus point from four attempts as a form of consolation for Steve Borthwick’s side.

Racing back to do the challenge turned McCloskey into something of a viral sensation afterwards, giving him “some laughs where there are some funny memes”.

However, it was an incident during training on the Tuesday before the match when Farrell challenged him to not give the same effort which reminded him of the effort required at Test level.

“It wasn’t like Andy passed us by, he just pointed it out and a couple of us were still sore from the weekend, but he was right.

“You have to go after each one and then you subconsciously know to do that, but any big game you go after and this time I had the angle.”