Joe McCarthy: ‘You always have to keep evolving your game’

For Joe McCarthy a 21-minute run after coming in for Iain Henderson in last year’s World Cup quarter final is the entirety of his All Blacks playing experience. Warming his bones in Portugal with the Irish squad, the Irish lock is hoping that on Friday he will have a longer hit out alongside Tadhg Beirne against the world number three ranked side.
Too young to allow scar tissue to develop, McCarthy may have been involved in Ireland’s most disappointing result since the 2019 World Cup, but he knows how these things work. The biggest thing is the next match, not the last one.
“You obviously do think back to it a bit. It was such a massive game and you want to put your best foot forward and make a bit of history with Ireland,” he says. “It is something that reminds you where you need to be at for those games.
“But the beast keeps rolling on in rugby. You keep going to the next thing and don’t look too far back. At that sort of level you have to be at your best in those big games or you won’t come away with the win.”
Already it feels like the 23-year-old with 12 caps is no longer the new kid on the block. That’s partly because McCarthy seemed to arrive like a fully formed test match player. The step up was taken with ease. Now it’s about how he can become wiser and more effective against top five ranked teams.
“I suppose every player feels like you always have to keep evolving your game,” he says. “I love the environment, it’s great. I probably am more comfortable in the group. We have a very strong connection where everyone gets on super well.
“The first few days in camp, you’re just straight into it and back on the same page. I’m definitely more settled. You always feel like it’s an environment that you get better in.”
There are some new faces in the All Blacks side. But McCarthy is aware that their captain and secondrow Scott Barrett is not one of them. With 77 New Zealand caps, Barrett led his team out last week for their tight win over England. Tupou Vaa’i, with 35 caps, started at five so they had over 100 caps’ worth of experience in their second row. They also had the 47-cap Patrick Tuipulotu on the bench.
That said, New Zealand have shed over 250 caps’ worth of experience with the retirements of Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock, and while they are probably irreplaceable, the team never seems short in finding strong alternatives.
“They still obviously have Scott Barrett, who is a very experienced player and they have some very good young players,” says McCarthy.
“Retallick and Whitelock had been stalwarts in their team for years. But I think there is a new breed of second-rows coming through, and I’m sure they are excited. They are very dynamic, real good athletes, so it will be a big challenge.”
It is true that as much as McCarthy is gaining with each test match he plays, so too are opponents becoming used to how he plays with his natural power, his ability to get on the ball and an impressively combative personality on the pitch.
Importantly, there is also a bit of the dog in McCarthy. Peter O’Mahony has it, Alan Quinlan had it too and Ulster’s Neil Best in spades. But McCarthy has good feet and for a 6ft 6in player can change direction and bring teammates into play. Still, he sees himself on a learning curve, finessing and controlling the horsepower.
“There’s a quote,” he says. “‘What gets you here won’t get you there.’ You’re always trying to add simple things because the same things won’t always work. Teams will scout you, what you’re doing in the lineout, maybe if you’re carrying well, you’ll have a few more double shots. You notice that.”
This Friday he’ll find out what the All Blacks think of him. But McCarthy faces them with more hope than fear.
“Every game starts on zero,” he says. “I feel like every game, you have to make it happen. We’ve had a good track record the last few years; we’ve earned the right to have a bit of confidence going into games.”