‘I nearly called it a day’ – Stuart McCloskey was on the verge of international retirement

For those wondering why it took the Ulster centre so long to change his boots mid-game in the inter-pro victory, a group that included the match referee Frank Murphy, it was down to the eye-catching, bright pink numbers still being stuffed with plastic when they were brought to him on the field.

That McCloskey was still going through such pre-season rituals a month into the campaign was a significant departure from past years, the provincial stalwart absent due to Irish involvement that took its time in arriving.

Never a favourite of Joe Schmidt who gave him his Irish debut in 2016, McCloskey came back into the mix under Andy Farrell, playing his part in the Grand Slam campaign and making it out to the World Cup where he played once against Scotland and memorably completed the lap of honour in the Stade de France with his ten-day old baby in his arms. He admits, though, that he previously came close to telling Farrell that he was to take the unusual step of international retirement.

"That tour when I didn't get picked to go to New Zealand (in 2022), I remember a phone call with Faz where I nearly said I was going to call it a day,” he said. "I'm not saying he talked me out of it, I probably talked myself out of it as we were chatting. It wasn't an angry conversation, it was just a chat.

"I ended up going on that tour, played the Maoris, played well, ended up starting six in a row after that, winning a Six Nations, going to the World Cup. It's amazing how quickly things change.

"I wouldn't say they were incredibly dark days, but I was down about it. You grow up wanting to play for your province for a while and when you do that, you think you've an opportunity, you think you're at that level.

"Which is kind of where I thought I was for a while, at a level where I thought I could play for Ireland if I was given a decent opportunity.

"I felt I would have given it a good go but it's just the way it is sometimes. Some coaches don't see what other coaches see.”

Having battled so long to play a greater role in the national set-up, the last 13 months have brought a number of long-held goals, namely a first cap against a traditional ‘Tier One’ nation since his debut against England, a first trophy of his career and a place at the World Cup.

“Those were definitely things that I wanted to achieve but when I got to 28 or 29 I didn’t think I would end up doing it,” he admitted. “A lot of things are out of your control selection-wise a lot of the time, especially a team as good as Ireland.

“When guys get in there, I found that myself at the start of last year when I got in there I ended up starting six games, the only reason I ended up going out for the Scotland game was because I got injured, when you go out it is hard to get back in.

“I haven’t reassessed my goals yet, I just want to keep playing, I want to keep playing for Ireland especially if I am still here.

“It was a massive achievement for myself over the last 15 months. I really didn’t think it would happen so it has been a nice surprise.”

Having turned 31-years-old during the training camp ahead of the World Cup, McCloskey is pragmatic enough to acknowledge he’ll likely not still be involved with Ireland come Australia 2027 but is in no mind for any changing of the guard to be sooner rather than later.

That goes for Ulster as well as Ireland.

While McCloskey has been an integral figure at Ravenhill for years now, in his international absence, Jude Postlethwaite made his first ever senior start and the youngster has impressed in limited opportunities so far.

A similarly statured inside centre to McCloskey, there are high hopes for the former Irish under-20s international who is another to have worked with Ulster’s attack coach Dan Soper during his stint at RBAI.

The overlap of incumbent and presumed successor is not uncommon at Ravenhill. Just as John Cooney has dovetailed with Nathan Doak, and Rob Herring spoke only last week of the “friendly fire” between himself and Tom Stewart, McCloskey will toe the line between bringing on the next generation and holding onto his jersey for as long as he possibly can.

"Jude has shown some unbelievable touches, he definitely has it in him,” said McCloskey.

"I hope he goes on, and I think he will, to play for Ulster a lot going forward and Ireland in the future. He has a lot of improving to do until then and I think I can help with that, the coaches are helping him with that.

"It's probably a couple of years down the line for him.

"Personally I still want to start here for as long as possible. I don't want to shepherd him into it because I want to keep my position for as long as I can.

"If I wasn't starting here, I'd probably go somewhere else. I'm not someone at this stage who wants to sit around and rattle around on the bench. "We'll see how fast Jude comes along and we'll reassess, but I'll help him along the way as much as I can.

"But I'd be in the same boat as Rob, you don't want to be giving it to them, you want to make them work for it."

The pair actually ended up sharing the field for a first time against Munster last week with Postlethwaite coming off the bench in the first quarter, replacing Ethan McIlroy and McCloskey’s original midfield partner Stewart Moore moving out to full-back.

Although Postlethwaite did play outside centre for the under-20s, teaming up with the likes of Cathal Forde and Ulster’s Ben Carson for the underage side, the 21-year-old’s comfort in the unfamiliar impressed his more senior colleague.

"He repped in at 12 (during training) so it wasn't even as if he ran it loads,” McCloskey said.

"I was out for dinner with Rob (Herring) and Hendy (Iain Henderson) on Saturday night and we said the best thing that Jude did the whole time was just that he was really solid.

"The games that Jude has had he's had some unbelievable moments where you can see that bit of class in him. But there's the odd time where you can see something and think 'flip, that's a young guy still learning how to do it.'

"I thought he was really solid coming into a position where he's maybe not that familiar.

"There's no coaching done by me. He was the one that had a bit more lungs in him and making more calls than I was.”

When it comes to Ulster making a call between the pair, McCloskey intends to maintain the status quo for some years yet.