THE STU SENSATION

It's taken 10 years for Ulster's McCloskey to become an overnight success but now he's key in Irish centre

- BY DEREK FOLEY

STUART MCCLOSKEY is a 33-year-old, 24 times capped Ireland and Ulster centre.

You may know him from performances for Ireland such as the 46-19 win over Australia last year (below), the 2023 bonus-point victory over France or the 19-16 triumph over South Africa in 2022.

Then there were his performances against England in 2016 at Twickenham and, last week, against France - displays that had Ireland not been beaten he would have been man of the match.

McCloskey, who made his Ireland debut 10 years ago this month, is two years younger than Bundee Aki (68 caps), a year older than Robbie Henshhaw (84 caps) and two years Garry Ringrose’s (70 caps) senior.

Yet successive coaches have not seen him as the fourth side of a square, retaining a decade-long idea the centre pairing was a self-contained triangle of Aki-Henshaw-Ringrose.

Last Thursday McCloskey was earning just his seventh Six Nations cap. Yet there is an understanding of late that what's good for McCloskey is best for Ireland.

Let's face it, no one has no one has ever accused the Ulsterman of lacking ‘grunt’, something he brings to both attack and defence.