McCloskey's Poor Kick Ruins Another Chance!

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell used 35 players during the Six Nations but only two were ever-present. One, unsurprisingly, was captain Caelan Doris. The other was Stuart McCloskey.

After an injury-hit autumn campaign, McCloskey enjoyed an outstanding championship, playing a pivotal role as Ireland won the Triple Crown. He led Ireland in carries (74), offloads (eight), try assists (six), defenders beaten (20) and post-contact metres (105) and provided one of the moments of the tournament when he chased down Marcus Smith in the win over England. In the closing stages of Ireland's record 42-21 win at Twickenham, McCloskey sprinted back and barrelled the England back into touch, a moment that gained much traction online.

And the 33-year-old admitted it was hard to avoid the clip of the tackle or receiving messages about it in the days after the game. "It was hilarious, after my phone has never been buzzed as much in my whole life," he told the Ireland Rugby Social podcast. "I had a few messages for the quarterback offload to Rob [Baloucoune for Ireland's third try in their win over Italy] the week before but the chase down of Marcus went viral, you couldn't not see it for three or four days!

" 'You know that I love this! ' - Farrell on Ireland future 'Seconds from title but Ireland can take positives' Listen and subscribe to the Ireland Rugby Social 'I never thought I was too far away' McCloskey started all five of Ireland's Six Nations games as they won the Triple Crown [Getty Images] McCloskey's revival at Test level has been a long time coming. The Ulster man made his Ireland debut in 2016 but has had to be patient for a prolonged opportunity at centre with the likes of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw previously in his way.