Tadhg Furlong on injury frustrations ahead Lions v Western Force
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Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Tour grandad Stuart McCloskey still adding strings to his bow
Whichever end of the age spectrum in a rugby squad a player may find themselves, the reminders of said fact are constant. Just ask Henry Pollock, tour baby with the British & Irish Lions and designated custodian of the stuffed big cat for the duration of the trip to Australia. For Stuart McCloskey, the grandad of the Ireland squad newly arrived in Tbilisi ahead of Saturday's Test against Georgia, there is the good-natured barracking he receives from interim head coach Paul O'Connell, who is expected to name the 32-year-old at inside centre on Thursday. It was not meant to be the Ulster midfielder's role on this two-Test tour which will move onto Portugal after Saturday's one-off Test, yet the withdrawal of Scotland tighthead Zander Fagerson from the Lions squad due to injury meant a promotion for Ireland's Finlay Bealham, 33, which left McCloskey as the senior man in an inexperienced Irish squad. 'Finlay Bealham absolutely did me in going to the Lions,' a vexed McCloskey said ahead of Ireland's departure from Dublin. 'I messaged him straightaway being like 'you've completely mugged me here, I'm the oldest now'. 'He (O'Connell) gets a dig in most days about how old I am, but I'm still faster than all those young lads anyway, I've got a few more years left in me. I keep telling Jacob (Stockdale) and Nick Timoney I'll outlast them, so I'll get them at some stage.' Being reminded his last trip to Georgia as an Emerging Ireland squad member at the Tbilisi Cup a decade ago was not a helpful reminder of McCloskey's status and the Ulsterman said: 'You're ageing me here, I already feel old among these lads, Paulie did it to me the other day as well. Do I remember much of it? No, I remember the zoo, it was the time the animals escaped from the zoo. 'Yeah, I was pretty naive to what professional rugby was 10 years ago. I didn't really know what I was up to, but a few years under the belt, a few more grey hairs and I think I know what I'm about these days.' With Robbie Henshaw injured and both Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose on Lions duty, McCloskey seems sure to add to his 19 caps over the next two weeks, with Jamie Osborne his likely midfield partner at 13 and his experience tells him every cap is a downpayment on future recognition. Asked what his mindset for this tour was, he replied: 'First of all, play well. I still think I've got a bit of rugby to go in my career, I think I have a few years left. 'So this Lions period the last time, when we played America and Japan (in 2021), sort of springboarded me on to get a lot more caps and be a lot more involved. I think I've been involved in two Six Nations wins in that time and a World Cup. 'Hopefully I'll put a good foot forward for any games coming up over the next few years and keep my head around the place and push into the next World Cup. 'I don't think I'm doing a lot wrong. I think when I've played I've went well, it's just there's four very good centres in the lads, two of them are away (with the Lions) and you could argue Robbie would've been away as well if he wasn't injured, so I don't think I'm too far off it. 'What can I do better? Keep improving on a few things, probably a bit more physicality in defence, I think I've got most things in attack. Add a few more strings to my bow, whether that's breakdown or poach threat, but overall I don't think there's a lot in it. A few decisions go my way, I'm sitting here with a few more caps.' For now, his chief problem is the boss's chirping, but McCloskey revealed he has an ace up his sleeve to deal to O'Connell, though he admitted the former Munster and Ireland captain used to terrify him as an opponent. 'I think I was in one training camp with him. I think I'm the only one in the squad to have played a game against him as well. We won down at Thomond that day (in May 2014) for Ulster, I'll not mention that to him, hopefully that comes up and he sees that. 'No, as a player, incredibly intimidating, you see some of the clips of him from back in the day and he'd (be) red carded basically every week (currently) for what he did but I think he knows that himself now. It was a different time. 'Intimidating as a player, as a coach he has that intimidation factor but I think he's very personable. He lets the young guys come out of their shell, a bit like what Faz is like. He's watched Faz over the past three, four years and learned a lot from that. How has he put his own stamp on it? There hasn't been a great deal different. He's seemed quite laidback to me, but with me being the oldest in the group it's easy to feel a bit more laidback when you're 32, not 20.'
The Irish Sun
7 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Blundering BBC Sport confuses fans by publishing score of Wimbledon match that hadn't happened yet
BLUNDERING BBC Sport confused fans by publishing the score of a match that had not yet happened. The broadcaster's X feed on Tuesday claimed Polish Advertisement 3 Polish Iga Swiatek won 7-5, 6-1 against Russian Polina Kudermetova Credit: Getty 3 US ace McNally defeated British hopeful Jodie Burrage Credit: Reuters Swiatek actually won that day 7-5, 6-1 against Russian Polina Kudermetova. Meanwhile McNally had defeated British hopeful The incorrect post was only deleted yesterday. One fan joked: 'Maybe the BBC knows about the future or something.' Advertisement READ MORE ON WIMBLEDON Another fan jibed: 'Proof that tennis is scripted.' It sparked concerns the Wimbledon broadcaster is using AI to send match results, which it denied. A spokeswoman said: 'We do not use AI to publish match results. 'The incorrect graphic was the result of a technical error and was removed immediately once identified.' Advertisement Most read in Sport 'So sorry.. I don't know if I'm supposed to do that' - Iga Swiatek admits to STEALING Wimbledon souvenirs for friends 3 BBC Sport's X feed claimed Swiatek had beaten Caty McNally 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 despite the match being scheduled for today Credit: Getty
Sunday World
9 hours ago
- Sunday World
Lions continue their march with a thumping win over Queensland
Bundee Aki of British & Irish Lions in action against John Bryant of Queensland Reds during the tour match at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. Photo: Steve Christo/Sportsfile Maro Itoje stamped his authority on the British and Irish Lions with a commanding display as the Queensland Reds were overwhelmed 52-12 at Suncorp Stadium. Making his first appearance in Australia as Lions captain, Itoje was at the heart of an eight-try rout that saw the England skipper leave his calling card on Brisbane two-and-a-half weeks out from the first Test at the same venue. Elliot Daly, Bundee Aki and man of the match Jac Morgan also impressed, while another pleasing development was the promise shown by first-choice half-back partnership Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell. Paired together for the first time because of Gibson-Park's recent glute injury, they played 50 minutes and linked well despite having been limited to one training session as a combination. Russell was replaced after 50 minutes having also started against Western Force four days earlier and was followed off the field by Daly, who took a heavy bang to his left arm to raise concern over his ongoing tour prospects. Daly was making an astonishing 11th successive appearance in a Lions matchday 23 but was drafted into the team at short notice after Hugo Keenan was forced to withdraw because of illness. The Lions continued with their high-risk, high-reward running game and while it produced a 21-12 interval lead against a Reds team that finished fifth in this year's Super Rugby, the knock-on count at the same stage was 8-1 in the hosts' favour. It was their third outing on tour but they played like a team that had been thrown together in an error-strewn first quarter that saw two scrum penalties conceded, a line-out lost and the Reds boss the breakdown. Tommy Freeman, Daly and Tom Curry made simple handling errors and there was worse to come when number eight Joe Brial swatted aside Curry and Ollie Chessum for Jeffery Toomaga-Allen to touch down. The Lions hit back with a slick try for Freeman directed by Russell but the hosts restored their lead when Kalani Thomas kicked through for Josh Flook to gather and score, punishing Duhan van der Merwe's hesitation in defence. There was ground to be made in the wide channels for Farrell's men, although their next try came from a route-one approach when Andrew Porter barged across from a short-range free-kick. The Lions' extra firepower was evident in open play and it was sharp handling by Chessum and Jack Conan that sent Van der Merwe over in the corner. Gibson-Park produced a pleasing moment given his recent injury issues with a sniping run after a hard carry by Aki that set up a try for Itoje. Faced with the arrival of the Lions' heavy duty bench reinforcements, the Reds were folding, with Alex Mitchell sending Morgan over before Freeman showed his strength to score after impressive build-up play. Itoje was growing in stature as the match wore on and there were late tries for Huw Jones and Garry Ringrose, driving the final nail into the hosts' coffin.
