Stuart McCloskey: 'So he’s sort of the eyes for me... makes me look good'

Stuart McCloskey says he is benefitting from fellow Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw, who “does all the work that makes me look good”.

Ulster’s McCloskey, nominated for the 2026 Six Nations Player of the Championship, teamed back up with Leinster’s Henshaw in last Friday’s 42-12 Nations Championship win against Argentina.

The pair are expected to continue in midfield for Ireland on Saturday when they face Fiji in Dublin, with Leinster’s Garry Ringrose ruled out due to a hamstring injury.

McCloskey told a press conference: “Rob is great at wanting the ball all the time. That’s one thing he does incredibly well. He works really hard off the ball to get extra touches and to link with the back three.

“So he’s sort of the eyes for me. He works incredibly hard, does all the work that makes me look good.”

The win against Argentina saw McCloskey and Henshaw team up for Ireland for the first time in over 10 years, the previous occasion being on the former’s senior debut against England at Twickenham in the 2016 Six Nations Championship.

“We’ve had a lot of time together, a lot of training sessions together,” McCloskey added. “It’s pretty seamless.

“I think whenever one of the centres really jumps into the group it always works pretty well, but thought he went well (against Argentina). I thought we both went solidly, if not spectacular.”

Ireland sit third in the Nations Championship’s northern hemisphere table after three wins from four matches and McCloskey said they will try not to “get too much into an arm wrestle” with Fiji on Saturday.

“When they get it right they can be incredibly physical,” McCloskey added. “We’ll go after them in different ways and will hopefully be a bit more structured than they are.

“It’s good once or twice a year to have a game this physical. Hopefully we won’t get too much into an arm wrestle with them, we’ll try to let our shape do the work, give us one-on-ones instead of running into brick walls.”