Stuart McCloskey on the Paul O’Connell speech that inspired Ireland to victory over England
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Leader of men.
Some games carry more weight than others, and for Ireland, a trip to Twickenham against England always falls into that category.
But according to Stuart McCloskey, it wasn’t just the occasion that fuelled Ireland that day — it was a powerful message delivered by Paul O’Connell that set the tone.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the Ulster centre said there was always gonna be an “emotional side to it” when it comes to playing England on their home patch.
“The closer we got to the game, there was an emotional side to it – it is England, it is Twickenham – which was driven really well by the coaches, but it wasn’t building up too much more than it is,” McCloskey told The Telegraph.
In a break from tradition, it wasn’t Johnny Sexton leading the backs meeting.
“Normally, Johnny [Sexton] does a bit of a chat with the backs before the game, but he and Paulie swapped that day.
“We did it at our hotel before we left for the game. It was words about what it meant to them. It wasn’t derogatory about the English; he read a passage out of a book that he had been reading, and it was really inspirational.
“All the backs loved it. Sometimes it is nice to hear a different voice in those meetings.”
Ireland still had to weather an early storm once they got onto the pitch.
“We stuck in it for the first 15 minutes, the scrum was creaking a bit, and we defended for our lives.
“I remember Garry [Ringrose] forced a big knock-on from [Ellis] Genge that took the pressure off us, and when we got chances, we took them.”
And when momentum swung, Ireland didn’t hesitate.
“We scored tries in the first half, and it was absolute liquid rugby for 25 minutes. Jamison [Gibson-Park] had the ball on a piece of string, and everything clicked.”
A different voice, the right message, and for one crucial spell at Twickenham — everything came together.
