Bernard Jackman: Joe McCarthy making his size count for Leinster

Bernard Jackman believes Joe McCarthy has taken his game to a new level for Leinster since the Rugby World Cup.

The 22-year-old was one of the standout performers for Leo Cullen's side in Saturday's 21-16 win against Munster at the Aviva Stadium, and on current form, appears to be keeping both Jason Jenkins and Ross Molony out of the Leinster lineup.

It's still less than two years since the second row made his first senior appearance for Leinster, when he started alongside Devin Toner at lock for his side's defeat to Cardiff in January 2022.

Toner is one of several people who have spoken in glowing terms about McCarthy's potential, and Jackman believes we're now seeing just how effective he can be.

"Players are very good judges, and especially players who train or play with those players, and the talk about McCarthy for the last year and a half has been an excitement around what he could bring," Jackman told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.

The lock has won five Ireland caps since making his debut just over a year ago against Australia, with two of those coming at the Rugby World Cup in France earlier this season.

"It was obviously a controversy around his selection and Jean Kleyn's non-selection, and Kleyn going on to win a World Cup medal, and it's brilliant for Jean what he did. But I think what we saw the other night is probably what (Andy) Farrell was thinking of: the carry. I think the area that Joe McCarthy has the upper hand on Kleyn is in his ability to carry well. It's not a weakness of Kleyn but it's not a strength of is. I think it can be an area where Joe McCarthy can become incredibly important to teams, making average ball into good ball, being able to draw in two defenders.

"He moves well, he moves well across the ground,