Joe McCarthy: 'I feel like I'm only scratching the surface'

For a long time on Saturday, it was looking like Joe McCarthy just wasn't meant to score.

Held up over the line once in each half, the second row was also knocked into touch right in the corner, a hattrick of near misses for the 22-year-old.

On 67 minutes though he got his reward when the ground opened up in front of him after a mess of a lineout from Romania close to their own line, and the he was able to run in under the posts for his first Irish try on just his second Test start.

"I thought it would come a bit sooner maybe," McCarthy joked after the 82-8 win against Romania in Bordeaux.

"A few of my mates are slagging me about butchering a few chances.

"I thought one of them I maybe touched a bit of grass but no, glad to get one of them at least."

All analysis of the win must be caveated with the fact that the Romanian challenge was limited, to put it mindly. Eugen Apjok’s Oaks offered plenty of physicality and a kicking strategy that worked for a period in the first half, but Ireland’s World Cup campaign won’t be remembered for better or worse off this game alone.

As such, McCarthy’s impressive statline is padded somewhat by the standard of opposition. The second row made 17 carries, a number only Bundee Aki bettered, while his six tackles was second only to Peter O’Mahony.

What can’t be disputed in the numbers is the appetite for work. On a baking hot day in Bordeaux, McCarthy showed tremendous workrate and fitness, while three offloads and a turnover won at the maul also suggests he has something to offer both in the tight, physical exchanges as well as open play.

"Our attack definitely asks a lot of every player, probably more than any other team," he added.

"No matter if you’re tight-five, you have to have class hands, you