“He was putting steaks and napkins in his fleece pocket to save them for later!” Rugby has changed dramatically since the game went from amateur to psuedo-professional and, now, fully professional. The professional rugby diet have changed massively too. In the early days, players would get a big feed of chicken and pasta into them […]

4 years ago

“I can’t win!” Back in 2011, in the lead-up to the World Cup, Mike McCarthy made his Ireland debut at blindside in an away loss to Scotland. He was 29, and it was the realisation of a life-long mission to wear the green jersey. McCarthy had been playing with Connacht for four seasons, at that […]

4 years ago

“He didn’t know what ‘no contact’ was. He was just smashing boys” Every team had a player, or two, that instantly lights up the place when they arrive. Be it their actions on or off the field, or on the way to the field, they create a buzz and leave folks shaking their head in […]

5 years ago

“Sometimes, you more remember the losses than the wins.” For Mike McCarthy, for all his hard graft and strong performances, success came late in his rugby career. There were close calls too, with Leinster and Ireland, and he admits a couple of games still cause some troubled nights. The London-born lock first made his name, […]

5 years ago

Ireland head into this weekend’s Six Nations match with Scotland with a perfect three wins from three in this year’s tournament but their defence is still a major point of concern for the championship leaders. Ireland have conceded six tries in their last two wins over Italy and Wales and have already conceded the same […]

8 years ago

Two men that have worn the green jersey with pride and, between them, played for three provinces and in three countries. Tomás O’Leary and Mike McCarthy joined us in studio for the latest episode of The Hard Yards rugby podcast and looked ahead to the 2018 Six Nations championship. The former Ireland internationals also looked back […]

8 years ago