Life in the relative rugby backwaters out west has worked out well for proud grandson of Connacht, writes GERRY THORNLEY,Rugby Correspondent
Mike McCarthy is a proud son of Connacht, indeed a proud grandson of Connacht. When, last August, he finally lined up for his Ireland debut at 29 against Scotland at Murrayfield, and they played the anthems, he thought of his maternal grandfather, Patrick Coyle, from Belmullet in Mayo, and of representing Connacht for six seasons, and he swelled with pride.
McCarthy’s debut was made all the more poignant in that his Irish grandfather had passed away weeks beforehand, and both his mother Anna and Geordie girlfriend Jessica were in the crowd. Patrick Coyle had never returned to Ireland, in part because he felt it would have been too sad to do so, and also having emigrated by boat, he had never boarded a plane in his life.
McCarthy has felt the same pride in his four subsequent caps, and will do so again today. “I feel massively proud, especially knowing my granddad is from the west, from Belmullet. It’s why I’m always proud to wear the Connacht jersey. He hadn’t passed away long before I got that first cap so it was a massive day for my mum and myself.”
That Patrick Coyle hailed from Fox Point, near Belmullet, is of further significance given that, for the first time, today’s game will be played for the Admiral William Brown Cup, in honour of the Argentinian navy hero who hailed from Foxford in Mayo.
Money home
“He (Coyle) was the oldest of the family and when his mum died he moved across to England to work on the railways and send the money home,” explains McCarthy. “Before that, he actually built the house that my cousin lives in, in Belmullet now.
“He married when he met my grandma when he was working in London, so when my mum comes she’s always over to Galway, and we’d go up quite often to Belmullet to see my cousin.”
Through his mother especially, McCarthy had always been aware of his Irish heritage, and both his mother and Belmullet-based cousin have been at Connacht games in the Sportsground, while McCarthy also has relatives in Portlaoise and Dublin.
For all the young players breaking into the squad, there are those like Chris Henry and McCarthy, and before them Mike Ross, who have had to bide their time and travel a longer road; none longer than McCarthy’s.
Although, as he himself is quick to note, McCarthy turns 31 next Tuesday, now he’s made perhaps the biggest breakthrough of his career he is encouraged by the longevity of others in his position.
“There’s a lot of locks still going, like Simon Shaw, Brad Thorn and Swifty”, he says, in reference to his secondrow partner at Connacht, Michael Swift. “I think he’s 36 now,” he says of Swift. “Nah, I think he’s 35. I think he’ll kill me if I say he’s 36.”
As strong as a horse, with a huge engine and warrior spirit, McCarthy could conceivably have another five or six years left in his career. All the more so now that, finally, he has cracked it as such.
“I was gutted to miss out on the World Cup, especially after doing the whole pre-season with Ireland, but it was just one of those things you have to take on the chin and keep working hard and eventually you get a crack.”
Second Test
Today, he starts his second Test in succession, although he admits: “To be honest as time had gone on I kind of felt the ship had sailed, so to speak, and my chance had gone. I’ve just always kept working hard and thankfully, I’ve gotten the chance.”
The defeat ruined the day a fortnight ago. On learning of his elevation three days’ beforehand due to Paul O’Connell’s withdrawal, he hadn’t done nearly as many practice sessions as he’d have like and has rarely been so nervous. But once the game kicked off, he felt good physically, and it showed.
McCarthy was Ireland’s stand-out performer, consistently effective in the contact zone, whether carrying or tackling.
That he’s possibly playing the best rugby of his life he attributes to an injury-free run and match fitness. “I’ve done some great work with Dan McFarland (Connacht forwards coach) . He’s really helped my game progress.”
Rugby suits McCarthy’s strength and stamina, though he is the first in his bloodline to play rugby and the sporting genes, such as they were, would also appear to hail from Coyle, who was a long distance runner. “He was very sporty, but apart from that, no. Kind of strange.”
McCarthy was born in London, but to a large extent developed in Cumbria, courtesy of a sports scholarship to Sedbergh College, alma mater to Will Greenwood and Will Carling, amongst others, from the age of 12.
In Newlands primary school, McCarthy had been an exceptional swimmer and runner, amongst other sports, including rugby, which he began playing at 10.The Sedbergh years were good years, so good that in the last of them, 1999-2000, they won the Rugby World Team of the Year award.
“We had a great team with Phil Dowson and James Simpson-Daniel. Sinbad was really our team. We used to just give him the ball at 10 and he’d score. It was ridiculous.”
Even more remarkably, McCarthy was a winger in his formative years.
“I was really tall, lanky and skinny. I played there until I was about 16, and then I kind of ballooned for some reason and got put into the secondrow. I was very out of shape so I used to be a bit of a ruck inspector, turning up to the ruck as the scrumhalf was passing the ball away.”
From Sedbergh, he went to Brunel University, though deferred studying sports science within a year after a successful trial with Wasps saw him brought into their academy, before he was given a full-time contract in his second of three years there.
It’s been rugby ever since, and “have boots, will travel” became McCarthy’s motto as he went in search of game time.
McCarthy played under Nigel Melville and then Warren Gatland, who converted him into a six, but with Lawrence Dallaglio, Paul Volley and Joe Worseley in the back-row, he left Wasps to join Connacht in the 2003-04 season.
“They (Wasps) wanted me to stay but I felt I was at the age (21) where I needed to be playing.”
His lack of game time at Wasps was also as a result of flying over for Ireland Under-21 training camps.
Opportunity came
“Then a few English lads weren’t released by their clubs and I got a call to say ‘Do you want to go to the (Under-21) World Cup?’ At that age, you just want to play at the highest level you can, and that opportunity came and I took it.”
By dint of going to those finals in South Africa in 2002 with England, did he think he might be burning his bridges with Ireland?
“I wasn’t really thinking about it. I just wanted to play at the highest level I could and progress my career as much as I could.”
Similarly, with Damien Browne and Andrew Farley the first-choice Connacht secondrows, and Swift at blindside, McCarthy upped sticks again to join Newcastle for three years.
“Newcastle is a great place, great city. Once I signed there, they began signing big names like Owen Finnegan. But in my first two years I ended up playing nearly every game so it was great to be getting the experience of playing.”
He was voted the supporters player of the year in 2005-06, but in his third season there Rob Andrew left to work with the RFU and McCarthy was one of those who fell out of favour with the new regime headed by former Academy director John Fletcher.
Hence, when Michael Bradley expressed an interest in re-signing him it was, McCarthy says, “a no-brainer”. It’s been a hard journey, but a rewarding one these past six seasons.
“The underdog tag suits us, I suppose,” he says. McCarthy is part of the core of the side that has soldiered through some grimmer times, Johnny O’Connor, Swift, John Muldoon and Gavin Duffy, to finally play in the Heineken Cup. Yet he looks back on that campaign largely with regrets.
“It was a great occasion against Toulouse but the occasion overwhelmed us. It was a great win over Harlequins but to be honest, we really felt we possibly should have beaten them away and in Gloucester we were winning until the 75th minute, and it would have been great to get an away win.”
All-consuming passion
The all-consuming passion which Eric Elwood brings to job pours through the documentary The West’s Awake. “Eric is inspirational. He wears his heart on his sleeve and gives everything to the club, and that commitment to the province rubs off on the players.”
Living in the west affords McCarthy opportunity to indulge in his passion for fishing on his days off and he’s also exploring further studies, most likely in business. Alas, perhaps, for Connacht, McCarthy’s contract is up at the end of the season and rumours abound of Leinster’s interest.
“I’ve not even been thinking about it, just concentrating on these matches and then start thinking about it then.”
To do better today he says simply: “We need to play for 80 minutes. Not just 40 minutes. We went in at half-time (against South Africa) with a bit of a lead, and we needed to come out firing. We, the players, feel we took our foot off the gas, whereas we needed to go for that next score, even three points. So the key message is to play for 80 minutes, not 40 minutes.”
Beyond today, he’d like to think he has a few more good years left in him. “As long as Swifty is doing it, it gives me motivation. I’m really enjoying my rugby and I haven’t even thought about hanging up my boots, hopefully for a long time.”
After the long and winding road he’s taken, the best may yet be to come.
Mike McCarthy Factfile
Date of birth: November 27th, 1981
Place of birth: London.
Height: 1.94m. Weight: 112kg.
Educated: Newlands Primary School, Sussex; Sedbergh College, Cumbria; and Brunel University.
Career: 2001-03: Wasps; 2003-04: Connacht; 2004-07: Newcastle; 2007-: Connacht.
Representative: Ireland: 5 caps.
Locked out O'Connell writes off his Lions tour
Paul O'Connell, who captained the Lions in South Africa in 2009, has virtually ruled himself out of consideration for next year's tour to Australia fully seven months in advance.
Sidelined during the Six Nations by a knee injury, which resurfaced to rule him out of the summer tour, O'Connell has since been plagued by back problems which have placed a cloud over the career of Ireland's outstanding forward of this and probably many other generations.
"I'd love to go but at this stage it's not looking great for me," a resigned O'Connell said on KFM radio yesterday after just two games in the last seven months. "I've spent a lot of time injured now and it's going to be a bit of a battle to get fitness so while it would have been a goal for me, I suppose right now I'm just looking to get back fit and get back playing as soon as I can. Whatever happens from there happens."
