Stuart McCloskey
Stuart McCloskey (born 6 August 1992) is an Irish professional rugby union player for Ulster Rugby.[5] He plays in the centre.
| Birth name | Stuart McCloskey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 6 August 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bangor, Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 111 kg (17 st 7 lb)[1][2][3][4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Bangor Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
McCloskey attended Bangor Grammar School as a youth, where he struggled to break into his year groups ‘A’ team before experiencing a growth spurt in his lower sixth year. Upon his return for his final year of school Mccloskey would significantly improve his game and begin to develop his trademark hard running style. Upon leaving school, Mccloskey would play for Ulster Bank League side Dungannon RFC where he would gain attention from Ulster Rugby and later proceed to the Ulster academy, and made his breakthrough into the Ulster Rugby first team in the 2013-14 season.[6]
International career
McCloskey played for Emerging Ireland (effectively the third XV of the Irish rugby team) at the 2014 IRB Nations Cup.[7]
McCloskey received his first call up to the senior Ireland squad by coach Joe Schmidt on 20 January 2016 for the 2016 Six Nations Championship. On 25 February 2016 he was included in the Ireland starting 15 for the first time, as a replacement for the injured Jared Payne.[8] McCloskey had to wait until November 2017 for his next call up to the Irish team. He was selected for the second test against Fiji in the inside centre berth, and he played the full 80 minutes.[9]
References
- http://www.ulsterrugby.com/team/player.php?PlayId=108298#.VpL8TcCLTow
- http://www.ulsterrugby.com/team/player.php?PlayId=108298#.V8jFnD595o4
- http://www.itsrugby.co.uk/player-31431.html
- http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/ireland/squad_profile_master.php?player=108298&includeref=dynamic#bkGA1W3oxBmw1DMJ.97
- http://www.espn.co.uk/ireland/rugby/player/216409.html
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-11-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/emerging-ireland-squad-named-for-irb-nations-cup-in-romania-30305751.html
- "Six Nations 2016: Rory Best named as new Ireland captain". BBC. 20 January 2016.
- http://www.espn.com/rugby/commentary?gameId=291262&league=289234