McCloskey Focused On Proving Himself At International Level

Stuart McCloskey’s bright start against South Africa came to an abrupt end with less than 30 minutes on the clock, but the Ulster centre has recovered from what turned out to be a dead arm, and is back in contention for selection.

Speaking at the regular Wednesday media conference he said, “I hit that and my arm just went completely dead. My forearm was in a lot of pain but it cleared up pretty well. My hand is still getting full function back, bit it’s getting there.

Going off, I was thinking I had waited six-and-a-half years to play another Tier 1 team – not that playing other teams isn’t big, but it’s nice to show yourself against a world class team like South Africa, so I was disappointed. Looking back on it, the positives were I was playing quite well when I was on, and it hasn’t seemed to be as bad as first thought with the injury.

Asked about his hopes of securing the green jersey he commented, “I’d love to be in the reckoning for the World Cup but there’s a long time between now and then. I just want to play a few more games in the next year leading up to the World Cup, and to play 80 minutes would be great. As long as this hand resolves itself pretty well (over the next few days), which I think it will, I’d love to keep on playing on.”