"Destructive" - Joe McCarthy excited to see Edwin Edogbo unleashed for Ireland Debut against Italy

Farrell has named uncapped Munster lock Edwin Edogbo on the bench to face Italy, with Joe McCarthy picked to start in Ireland's engine room alongside James Ryan. Speaking in the week, McCarthy reveled how impressive Edogbo has been in the Ireland training camp ahead of his incoming debut.

"He's been great. He's a really big physical specimen. Our two packs in training, there's a lot of big guys in there. [His is] A really good competition at maul time, he definitely has it a lot in that area and playing against him from Munster he's very destructive. He's a tough player to play against, just very strong."

"I think he's been fitting really seamlessly into the environment which is not an easy thing to do and it's only the first campaign so he's been great to work with. He's a serious player so it's exciting to have him in the camp."

As the 2026 Six Nations rolls on, the various newcomers to the squad continue to jostle for position in the hopes of making a long awaited senior Test debut. Munster prop Michael Milne made his dream a reality this past Thursday - upon his 27th birthday no less - with Ulster back row Bryn Ward also hoping to make his mark before the tournament is over.

"Bryn Ward's been awesome as well. It's good to see some young lads, [that are] really exciting, come through. I thought Bryn really stood out [in Ireland XV vs England A], it was a tough game for them, but on Friday I thought he looked a real powerful carrier. He just really backs himself, he's an exciting player."

Italy enter the fray in a hot run of form, having commenced their own Six Nations campaign with a strong 18-15 win over Scotland. Gonzalo Quesada's side stuck it out in the torrential Roman rain, for a statement making win this past Saturday. The Azzurri arrive in Dublin having never secured a senior men's Test win at the Aviva Stadium, however Ireland lock Joe McCarthy knows better than to overlook his opponents.

Speaking at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin, McCarthy expressed how the Italian's impressive progress is certainly on the radar. Italy stunned South Africa with a sensational scrummaging display, and also bagged an impressive victory over Australia for a coming-of-age Autumn Nations Series. McCarthy recognised how Ireland must be prepared for the same threat to arrive at the Aviva this Saturday.

"Italy are definitely a much improved team for me, last time I played was two years ago at home. It was impressive against Scotland how they're able to win all their line-out ball in real tough conditions. They didn't really struggle to win their ball in the rain.

"Their scrum as well, looking at them playing South Africa they gave them a bit of trouble and we know how good the South African scrum is. We'll probably try to get a bit of set-piece dominance but then they've got a lot of players, like, their forwards are very good at playing kind of no-look passes, pulling out the back, the centres, there is a lot of talent there.

"So we'll look to have a really strong set-piece, maybe get a bit of dominance there. You just try and put as much pressure on them as possible in their attack, getting off the line quick and being connected, then going after them."

It was an arduous first hit out for Ireland to begin their 2026 Six Nations, as they succumbed to a 34-16 loss to France in Paris. McCarthy revealed how this week brought about quite a telling review session, with the Ireland side now adamant to put this defeat behind them and 'turn the page' for the Italy clash.

"It was a tough review on the Monday morning." McCarthy added. "A lot of the stuff that we pride ourselves on - working back a bit quicker, getting set a bit quicker – were probably a second or two off. This makes a big difference against a good team like France, so dangerous on counter-attack and in transitions and stuff like that.”

"It does eat away at you. It's because you care a lot about the game, about how it went and obviously it doesn't go well at all. So you chew it over a few days. You have a bit of time where you're feeling sorry for yourself but you need to kick out pretty quickly, because you've a game against Italy next week that you need to rip into, and it's a huge game for us.

"So, we try to turn the page quickly and luckily we've got a good group in here. All the coaches, staff, and players are just kind of driving in the right direction. They want to make it right. We know we're not perfect but have good confidence that we'll get there.

A glaring moment from Ireland's trip to the Stade de France, saw McCarthy give away quite the needless penalty as his side defended at the gain-line. McCarthy had tunnel vision as he battled at the breakdown, yet his illegal action handed France a penalty, with Thomas Ramos happy to strike home the three points. The Leinster lock reflected upon this error, as he admitted the fault in dealing with the pressure.

"I suppose when they're playing on top of you, yeah, it was a poor penalty for me. Definitely avoidable, which are definitely the ones you kind of wanna not give away. I was trying to just make a bit of an impact or maybe get a tackle. I knew I got the timing wrong a bit and I tried to pull out a bit.

"It was just a poor penalty from me and it kind of gave them three points. Something I didn't want to be doing but it was just a poor judgment for me. It puts pressure on you, when they're playing on top and you're looking to try and stop it."

Whilst the overall feeling for Ireland coming away from the French capital was a negative one, the men in green did have some positive elements to take out of Paris. The line-out and scrum were significantly better than how the side had faired in the Autumn Nations Series, as Ireland held firm upon their own set-piece ball with solid scrum time retention and a 15/17 line-out completion rate.

"Yeah, it wasn't all terrible." McCarthy added. "Definitely, the set-piece was quite pleasing. I wouldn't say it was completely dominant, but in the first half, it was real good at scrum time. We got a penalty, felt really strong on our ball and on their ball.

“A big part that we were talking about going into the game is that France probably maul more than any team in the Six Nations, outfield especially, so we had a plan. We wanted to be real physical around that and stop that, I thought we did that. We turned them over, didn't give them a great platform off that. So I suppose from that perspective, it was quite pleasing.

“On our own ball, I think we only lost one lineout, which is generally a pretty solid day at the office in that respect. But obviously, a few other areas slipped in the game.”

With such an impressive outing upon the set-piece, you would be forgiven to think that this was an Irish pack at full strength. The new-coming loose-head duo of Munster Jeremy Loughman and Michael Milne were quick to get up to speed, with Thomas Clarkson also impressive upon his calling at tight-head. Joe McCarthy revealed how the tight five were able to gel rather seamlessly in the proceeding training week.

"It was really good. There was a huge focus, with Fogs [scrum coach John Fogarty] leading, for our scrum to be part of our identity and really go after that. I would have been scrummaging on Dan Sheehan and TC [Tom Clarkson]. I know them very well, scrummage loads on TC, always loved scrummaging on TC, a good connection with him.

“It felt very good and I was very clear in my own head about my set up and where I needed to be with them, so there was a clear process at every scrum. I felt really confident that I could definitely lock it out or inch forward. The work from that aspect during the week felt like it translated into the game.”