‘I’m a young buck still’: Joe McCarthy on becoming a senior figure at Leinster

Whisper it, but former young tyro Joe McCarthy is beginning to sound, and behave, like one of Leinster’s senior men.The 25-year-old was asked to step beyond his usual role during the province’s recent trip to South Africa. Part of a group of Ireland internationals who travelled knowing they would not play, McCarthy was among those given responsibility for analysing the Lions and Sharks and presenting his findings to coaches and players.“We were kind of in a player-coach role,” McCarthy said. “So it was a bit of a different thing, putting together a few clips of the opposition and deciding what points do we really hammer home. It was useful. You hear a lot from the coaches, but I think the players enjoyed hearing from the players on things like that.”He was among the group that left Durban on Friday before the 26-20 loss to the Sharks, and returned to UCD on Monday, training with Leinster’s sub-academy players, many of whom are only 18 or 19.READ MORE“I’m a young buck still,” McCarthy said. “But it’s so weird because they probably look at me like I’m quite an old player. They’re all 18, 19, so I’m like, ‘jeez, it feels like it was yesterday when I was coming out of school’.”The second row is normally happy to leave the talking to more established voices in the pack, such as Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan and James Ryan, but he acknowledges that his duties on the South Africa trip were part of his continuing development as a more senior dressingroom figure.“I definitely wouldn’t be the most talkative out of the group,” he said. “I don’t want to overcomplicate things, but I would try to take a bit more leadership. Sometimes I might be running the line of defence plan during a week, so there’s a bit of leading in that.”McCarthy believes that, while the trip failed to yield a victory for the second year running, it did provide an ideal foundation after the fragmented nature of last season’s start, when the involvement of so many players with the British and Irish Lions delayed their return.Joe McCarthy training with Leinster in Mullingar. Photograph: Grace Halton/Inpho Naturally, he can’t wait to get up and running against Cardiff Blues on Saturday. “The lads are really buzzed to get back into the Laya Arena,” he said.“You want to put on a proper show that fans are happy and proud to show up to and watch. There are no guarantees, but it definitely felt like we were a lot more on the same page on how we were trying to evolve our attack and get better at defence. It definitely feels like we’ve bedded in and we’re going to have a fresh attack and feel.”Joe McCarthy and James Ryan at training. Photograph: Grace Halton/Inpho Leinster’s RDS return marks the beginning of another marathon season for McCarthy that will eventually lead into the World Cup year.“We have a lot of big games coming up,” he said. “We’ve got Cardiff, Clermont and Munster and then we’re into the internationals, so it is in the back of your mind.”And, amid all the talk of personal evolution, there is a visible sign of change. The renowned McCarthy mullet is no more. He is happy enough to compare Sam Prendergast’s “furry” haircut to a badger or a beaver, but accepts that his own record does not leave him in much of a position to judge.[ Rugby referees need to cut out the first name chummy approach to playersOpens in new window ]“Maybe I’ll go for a shaved head this weekend,” he said, smiling. “I’ve had some dodgy ones. It was just looking a bit raggedy, wasn’t it? It had maybe run its course a bit, but once you cut it then you kind of miss it a bit. I miss the feeling of it whipping around.“I just cut it to change it and maybe tidy up my appearance, make me look more serious. I’m getting older. I have to leave that behind me. But I think Sammy’s hair actually looks all right.”