Stephen Ferris has praised the performances of Stuart McCloskey ahead of this weekend’s clash against Fiji.
The Ulster centre made his first start for Ireland in the victory over South Africa, after being named in the team following Robbie Henshaw’s withdrawal just before the game. He has been one of the most in form players in the country this season, but high competition at centre has limited his opportunities for Ireland.
After a good start to the game, McCloskey’s horrible luck international rugby continued as he left the field with a serious looking arm injury in the first half. However, the injury is not as bad as first feared as he starts alongside Robbie Henshaw at centre.
Your Ireland line up to face Fiji at a sold-out Aviva Stadium! ✊#TeamOfUs | #IREvFIJI
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 10, 2022
In an exciting team, Jimmy O'brien makes his first start at full-back, while Nick Timoney starts at seven. There could also be debuts for Cian Prendergast, Jack Crowley and Jeremy Loughman, who starts at loosehead.
Speaking to Balls.ie in partnership with Ladbrokes, Stephen Ferris praised Stuart McCloskey for his impressive performance for as long as it lasted against South Africa last weekend.
“He was class, he tidied up a few things for Ireland, a couple of loose balls went in behind I think it was a kick chase which fell into his hands, broke off a couple of tackles, made a bit of ground, a couple of key defensive plays as well.
He showed a bit more physically for me, especially in defence, knocked a couple of guys back, I think it was Peter Steph Du Toit, who is a big unit, knocked him on his backside.It was really disappointing to see him go off because he was playing well and I’m sure he was devastated with the magnitude of the game and having to leave the field.
Fair play to Stuart McCloskey, a lot of people analysing his performances
Looking back at last weekend’s victory over South Africa, Ferris claims Ireland can take a number of positives away from the victory, especially when a number of things didn’t got their way through the 80 minutes.
“They didn’t have the ball for large parts of the match, they had to defend even though it was stop and start through the match.
Look at the New Zealand test in the summer. The majority of the possession, the majority of the territory, making all the right decisions while really were restricted to limited attack because of the line speed defence from South Africa.
They made Ireland make a few mistakes, which we probably haven’t seen in the past. It probably felt like the better team on the day just lost out, which from an Ireland perspective is brilliant.
When they aren’t playing at their full potential, when they get a couple of key injuries, Tadhg Furlong going off, Johnny Sexton not 100%, big Stuart McCloskey going off, Robbie Henshaw pulling out during the week. Challenges that faced the Irish team, and they answered them all.
Everything wasn’t perfect, but they came out the right side of the result, and that’s all that matters on international rugby, and that’s all that matters when it comes to Rugby World Cups.
SEE ALSO: Ronan O'Gara Admits He Would Be Interested In England Job As He Weighs International Move
