Mike McCarthy has become the second Leinster player in the last two days to be called into Ireland's World Cup squad. He replaces captain Paul O'Connell whose international career has now come to a close.
The Leinster star last played for Ireland, last Autumn against Gerogia in the November Internationals. He has 17 caps for Ireland, starting ten of those games.
McCarthy's most successful year in an Irish jersey came in 2013, where he started in four of Ireland's Six Nations games in place of the injured O'Connell. This will be McCarthy's first World Cup. He made his debut for Ireland in the 2011 World Cup games but was not picked for the trip to New Zealand.
Last month, McCarthy along with Rhys Ruddock, who was called up to the squad yesterday, were on Off the Ball's Saturday Panel. You can hear both men speak about what it was like missing out on the original 31 man squad and whats it was like being on the stand-by list.
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