Joe McCarthy isn't a World Cup bolter in the traditional sense, but in a squad as settled as Andy Farrell’s, he’s as close to a bolter as you could be.
It’s not quite Conor Murray in 2011 - just six months separated the scrum-half's first start for Munster and his World Cup debut – but the second row has played his way into the Irish line-up for the opening game of the 2023 Rugby World Cup against Romania.
He only turned 22 in March, but the Leinster man comes in at a powerful 6ft 6in and 119kg according to Irish Rugby. Without getting too technical, Tadhg Furlong describes him as "a big auld man".
It’s just over 19 months since he made his Leinster debut, a 29-27 defeat to Cardiff in the BKT United Rugby Championship, but it was a game in which the then-20-year-old left his mark.
Within a few weeks he’d been called in by Farrell to train with the Irish squad for a few days, an unofficial call-up which was soon followed by an official call-up for the summer tour of New Zealand.
In between those stints in international camp, he quickly established himself in the Leinster squad, playing Champions Cup rugby and then going on to feature for the Irish midweek squad in their tour games against the Maori All Blacks.
A few months before all of that only those with a forensic knowledge of Leinster’s talent pipeline, or an All-Ireland League devotee, would have known who Joe McCarthy was.
He was Irish rugby’s best kept secret, mainly due to Covid-19. Having come through at Blackrock College, McCarthy moved on to Trinity College and played AIL for Dublin University while training with the Leinster sub-academy and then academy.
Unlike his younger brother Paddy, who starred for the Ireland Under-20s on their run to a Grand Slam title and World Cup final, Joe's experiences with the Irish U20s were brief.
As an 18-year-old he featured off the bench in Ireland’s three games of the cancelled U20 Six Nations in 2020, and had been due to captain Ireland at the 2021 championship the following summer before a serious hamstring injury led to him missing out on the tournament.
As such, when his name popped up on the Leinster teamsheet for a URC game away to Cardiff in January 2022, it was one that was unfamiliar to many.
As McCarthy made his first appearance in blue, his second row partner Devin Toner was making his 272nd for the province.
"He was ripping up trees in that game, he was brilliant," Toner told RTÉ Sport this week.
Leinster were beaten 29-27 on the night by Cardiff, Jarrod Evans scoring a penalty in the final play of the game to give the Welsh side the win, but an inexperienced second row was far from the reason they lost.
"In that game he was probably the only player who stuck his hand up and played well," Toner added.
"You could see it in his attitude in training, how he goes, he’s a brute of a man, big, strong and he works hard.
"It’s no surprise that he is where he is. I’d like to see him get a fair bit of game time, that depends on how everyone else goes, but to be that young at his first World Cup is huge and to get this experience at this level is huge. More credit to him."
His Test debut followed in November of 2022 against Australia, a brief second-half appearance in which he helped Ireland see out a narrow victory.
At the time, he looked to be well in contention for a World Cup spot, but when he missed most of the Six Nations due to an ankle injury, it appeared he had lost valuable ground to Kieran Treadwell in the second row queue.
Ultimately, he made up that ground, and the most impressive element of his selection is that he played himself into the squad, rather than skipping the queue off others’ mistakes.
Treadwell has consistently impressed for Ireland since returning to the international set-up in 2022, while many wanted to see Jean Kleyn involved in the squad this summer following a brilliant season for Munster.
"He deserves it," Farrell said after naming him in the side for this afternoon’s World Cup opener against Romania in Bordeaux.
"The form that he’s shown not just in the games he’s played, but his preparation in the last ten or 11 weeks. He’s really progressed his game, and he deserves an opportunity to start the first game of the World Cup."
While Farrell places a big emphasis on the way a player acts in camp, his performances in the warm-up wins against Italy and England stood out for those of us who don’t have the luxury of seeing the inner workings of the squad.
Speaking in this week’s RTÉ Rugby World Cup podcast, Jonny Holland said he’s seen an evolution in McCarthy’s game this summer.
"I thought he was immature in his play [last season] – which isn’t surprising because he’s young – around the ruck, maybe defensively prone to making assumptions and getting caught around the ruck, unlike James Ryan when he came on the scene.
"I thought he had his frailties, but you saw the turnaround, you could see it fairly clearly this summer the way he’s turned up. We expected it out of him. He came good at the right time and his trajectory now makes him a serious option for Ireland," the Cork Constitution coach said.
He’s well-liked by those around him, or specifically those ahead of him. A front row forward is only as good as the second row shoving him from behind.
"Having him scrumming behind you is unbelievable," hooker Rob Herring says.
"For a young guy he’s really honed his craft at scrum time, and he’s consistently delivering massive work behind us.
"So I’m excited, and all the front-rowers are excited, to have him behind us."
As a tighthead lock, his near-120kg frame will be supporting the cheeks of both Herring and Furlong, and Furlong says the 22-year-old is certainly made of the right stuff.
"He's well put together," Furlong adds.
"He's strong, he likes his scrum, Like a lot of our second rows do, to be fair.
"He's a good young fellah, he wants to learn, he wants to listen and it's been great working with him."
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