Bernard Jackman believes Joe McCarthy has taken his game to a new level for Leinster since the Rugby World Cup.

The 22-year-old was one of the standout performers for Leo Cullen's side in Saturday's 21-16 win against Munster at the Aviva Stadium, and on current form, appears to be keeping both Jason Jenkins and Ross Molony out of the Leinster lineup.

It's still less than two years since the second row made his first senior appearance for Leinster, when he started alongside Devin Toner at lock for his side's defeat to Cardiff in January 2022.

Toner is one of several people who have spoken in glowing terms about McCarthy's potential, and Jackman believes we're now seeing just how effective he can be.

"Players are very good judges, and especially players who train or play with those players, and the talk about McCarthy for the last year and a half has been an excitement around what he could bring," Jackman told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.

The lock has won five Ireland caps since making his debut just over a year ago against Australia, with two of those coming at the Rugby World Cup in France earlier this season.

"It was obviously a controversy around his selection and Jean Kleyn's non-selection, and Kleyn going on to win a World Cup medal, and it's brilliant for Jean what he did. But I think what we saw the other night is probably what (Andy) Farrell was thinking of: the carry. I think the area that Joe McCarthy has the upper hand on Kleyn is in his ability to carry well. It's not a weakness of Kleyn but it's not a strength of is. I think it can be an area where Joe McCarthy can become incredibly important to teams, making average ball into good ball, being able to draw in two defenders.

"He moves well, he moves well across the ground, and we don't produce many second rows of that ilk. We now have one that we should be getting excited about.

"Him and James Ryan's combination for Leinster, if he can bed down that second row spot, they're quite similar in some ways, but he has more bulk than Ryan. They're both very physical, and they're both mean," Jackman added.

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

According to his profile on leinsterrugby.ie, McCarthy weighs in at just under 120kg, anf stands tall at around 6ft 6in.

Former Connacht prop JP Cooney joined Jackman on this week's podcast, and says he's been particularly impressed with how the Ireland international has started to throw his weight around and impact the game.

"Playing on that edge is exactly what you want out of a big, physical lock," Cooney said.

"Dishing out physicality at the breakdown, maul, tackle area, if you were to construct a second row in a lab, you wouldn't be too far away from what Joe McCarthy is at the minute, or what he can become.

"It's hard to see any areas where he's lacking, he's well able to do what you might call the 'dirty work', like hitting rucks and the maul, but for him to receive a ball and set a maul, he's fantastic at that. It gives the Leinster forwards a platform, but outside of that he's athletic, he's well able to carry the ball, pass the ball, he's a very exciting prospect, not just for Leinster but as we've seen already in parts for Irish rugby as well.

"He's definitely one to watch in the future, and there's big conversation around what the next World Cup squad could look like, I think he could be a linchpin there."

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Watch Connacht v Leinster in the URC on Saturday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra