Stuart McCloskey considered Ulster exit while in Ireland exile

Stuart McCloskey had to wait seven years between his first and second Six Nations appearances and the Ireland centre revealed he considered moving abroad during his international exile.

McCloskey was one of three debutants when Ireland travelled to Twickenham in the 2016 Six Nations. The other two were Josh van der Flier and Ultan Dillane, with the former since becoming a pivotal player for both province and country while the latter won 19 caps before departing for La Rochelle last summer.

McCloskey performed well in that 21-10 loss to England but any hopes of becoming a first-team regular quickly evaporated. He made just five appearances over the next five years, with all of them coming against tier-two opposition, and missed out on selection for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

During that time McCloskey developed into a key player for Ulster, but his lack of opportunities with Ireland made him consider a move abroad. It was his wife, Hannah, who convinced him to stay put and keep believing in himself.

"It's a very clichéd answer but I suppose Hannah has been with me since the start," said the 30-year-old.

"She’d be the one when I was disheartened by the whole thing at times and thinking about going away and playing in different places, but felt that if I stuck at it maybe I would get a chance, and I’d regret it if I did go. It’s turned out alright.

"How close was I to going away? Not very, very close. There were definitely times when I did think about it but Ulster have been brilliant to me over the years so it wasn’t just about Ireland, it was Ulster as well."

The absence of Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki saw McCloskey handed a chance against South Africa in November and he has held onto the No 12 shirt since. Saturday's win over