Joe McCarthy (born 26 March 2001) is a professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who plays as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

club

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

, and represents

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at international level.

Early life

McCarthy was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York to Irish parents who had moved there for work; the family returned to Ireland when McCarthy was three years old.

Professional career

Leinster

McCarthy was named in the Leinster Rugby academy for the 2021–22 season. He made his debut in Round 11 of the

2021–22 United Rugby Championship The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship was the twenty-first season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the first season that the competition is referred to as the United Rugby Championship, ...

against .

Ireland

In June 2022, he was included in the Ireland squad for the 2022 tour of New Zealand. He made his international debut off the bench in the 60th minute of a 13–10 win over Australia. In August 2023 he was named in the Ireland squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the cou ...

. McCarthy was selected for Ireland's 2024 Six Nations squad. He won the Player of the Match award in the 2024 Six Nations Championship opener in Marseille where Ireland beat France, 38–17.

References

External links

* 2001 births Living people Sportspeople from Manhattan Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players Rugby union locks Ireland international rugby union players 2023 Rugby World Cup players {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub