No sooner have Joe and Paddy McCarthy belatedly been able to put a run of games together than the brotherly partnership has been cruelly interrupted. Alas therefore, the boyhood dream of playing together for Ireland will also have to be suspended for the time being as well.
The extent of Paddy McCarthy’s absence has yet to be revealed after he sustained a “significant” foot injury when slipping awkwardly in tackling Will Skelton in Leinster’s drama-fuelled 25-24 win over La Rochelle.
However, he is out of Leinster’s Champions Cup pool finale against Bayonne in the Stade Jean Dauger on Saturday (kick-off 4.15pm local time/3.15pm Irish) and the start of the Six Nations, which kicks off on Thursday, February 5th when France host Ireland in Paris.
“Yeah, it doesn’t look great, to be honest,” admits the elder brother a little forlornly. “It looks like it’s not going to be a quick turnaround so gutted for him because he was on a roll, he’s had a great start to the season. More so from our team perspective, we’ll really miss him over the next few weeks and months. I’m going to miss playing with him. I won’t have him as a roomie over in Bayonne this weekend.”
Although they both came through Blackrock College and Trinity, the brothers hadn’t played together until Paddy won his fourth Leinster cap as a replacement away to the Dragons in November 2023. The only other occasion was in Leinster’s festive win over Munster last season in Limerick, when Joe started and Paddy was again a replacement.
Although Paddy (22) broke into the Irish team to feature in all four November internationals, Joe (24) was still sidelined by the foot injury which cut short his Lions’ tour.
They were then re-united in Leinster’s wins over Ulster and Munster in December, when Joe started and Paddy again finished, so it wasn’t until Leinster’s Champions Cup opener at home to Harlequins that the pair finally started together.
This happened again away to Leicester, when Joe attributed his Man of the Match display to his younger brother.
“I loved it. It actually really spurs me on. He’s an absolute beast and I love playing with him, he really motivates me to play well.”
Investec Champions Cup Round 3, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 10/1/2026
Leinster vs La Rochelle
Tempers flare between Joe McCarthy of Leinster and La Rochelle’s Levani Botia
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Nick Elliott
Of course, siblings are understandably more motivated when playing alongside each other. In light of last Saturday’s third start together the older McCarthy reflected: “It was really cool because we never really got a run of games together up to that because one of us would always be injured or he would be with the 20s or whatever.
“I think we definitely play better together and preparing for the game together. I really enjoy playing with him. It lifts my game and I think his as well.”
That said, McCarthy readily sings the praises of Jerry Cahir for his performance off the bench after replacing his younger brother in what proved to be a memorable Champions Cup debut.
“It’s such small margins,” said McCarthy in reflecting on that win. “Way better feeling coming in (on Monday) with a win, it makes everything a lot better” while admitting the result “doesn’t paper over the cracks”.
“We definitely weren’t perfect. There were a lot of areas we actually felt we were quite poor in so it’s getting that balance right. I felt we deserved the win, we dug it out and found a way, but trying to fix what we can.”
Both brothers play on the edge, and Leinster have collectively received 23 penalties in their last two games as well as three yellow cards − with the older McCarthy receiving two of them.
McCarthy could feel his yellow card last Saturday for an immaterial offside was quite harsh, although he admits they are avoidable, whereas the breakdown is becoming jungle warfare.
Investec Champions Cup Round 3, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 10/1/2026
Leinster vs La Rochelle
Leinster’s Joe McCarthy leaves the pitch after receiving a yellow card
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Nick Elliott
“Even in the La Rochelle game they were really pushing boundaries and you are wondering: ‘How are they getting away with that?’ It’s tough for referees. They’re not going to get them all right, but there are some turnovers where I felt ‘I was good there’ and you didn’t get the call or the ref didn’t see it or the guy comes up the side.
“I pride myself on the maul and sometimes I feel I’ve come through the middle and I’ve been told to leave it or saying it’s a tackle not a maul. That happens a lot. The last few weeks have been hard because there was a good bit of grey area there. We always say if you paint good pictures around the ruck, make good dominant carries, on the front foot and clearing bodies off their feet, it usually clears it up. Obviously you can’t do it every time.”
This Saturday’s second successive fixture against Top 14 opposition should prove “ideal preparation” for that Six Nations opener, as well as providing something novel.
“Even when the fixtures came out everyone was really excited about this one. Before the World Cup we played Samoa there. It was a bit of a cagey game, but the atmosphere was class because there were a lot of French fans at that game.
“You hear about it being one of the best atmospheres in the Top 14 so we’re really excited about it. We seem to play a lot of the same teams, like a Leicester and a La Rochelle, so a new team like Bayonne is always good.”
Mindful of Bayonne’s “unbelievable” home form, McCarthy said: “They can’t qualify now but they are a proud team and they will show up for the fans. One thing we looked at from the La Rochelle game was that every French team likes to offload in contact, they don’t want it to break down. We probably didn’t deal with that so well because maybe in the URC teams are more pragmatic.
“Bayonne have good athletes and they will want to keep the ball alive. They won’t want us to get a ruck set so they will look to play through us and offload. That is very French and obvious to say but it is still very hard to defend when they get it right.”