Gus McCarthy aims to back up Senior Cup win with Blackrock by leading U-20s to ‘Slam’

The U-20s will hope to make it a special weekend for Irish rugby by beating England at Musgrave Park on Sunday evening, and win back-to-back Grand Slams.

McCarthy has been at the heart of Richie Murphy’s side’s superb performances that have seen them sweep all before them. The talented young hooker (19) plans to lean on last year’s schools’ final win at the RDS.

“That sort of experience of a cup final will definitely give me confidence,” McCarthy said.

“The experience will help me guide the lads towards the end goal. It will help me to stay calm, too. Because although the Senior Cup is similar, it wouldn’t be quite as big of an occasion. But it’s all down to the line, last game, win or lose.”

McCarthy has always been a natural leader, and while others may look to him, he knows Ireland have a strong squad, who up to this point have been outstanding in handling whatever has been thrown at them.

“I’ve been captain of quite a few of my teams growing up – Junior Cup, Senior Cup – but this year I’ve been playing with UCD as a first year, so obviously the captains are older lads,” McCarthy explained.

“I’ve learned from them. Bobby Sheehan is our captain and I’ve been trying to take things from him, especially training with the older lads in Leinster as well. I’m trying to take tips and implement them into my leadership.”

While McCarthy points to the influence of Sheehan at UCD, he has also been able to pick the brain of his brother Dan, current Leinster and Ireland hooker.

“I spoke to a few of the lads (at the recent open training session against the senior team) like Rónan Kelleher and Dan Sheehan about the scrum,” McCarthy recalled.

“They gave us a good insight and a few tips, because we were going up against them. It wasn’t really full scrums, but it was more about set-ups, which I found very helpful. I was very appreciative for going out of their way to try and help us.”

McCarthy is hoping Andy Farrell’s men get the job done against England tomorrow before the attention turns to the U-20s’ quest of winning another Grand Slam in the space of 24 hours.

“It would be a huge dream for me – a very proud day for myself and my family,” McCarthy added.

“It would mean a whole lot, but I haven’t really thought too much about it. I’ve just been focusing on the game and on ourselves. Hopefully, I can enjoy the game.”