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Ireland centre Stuart McCloskey revealed he had considered retiring from international rugby as he savoured the special memory of making a World Cup debut in front of his newborn son.<\/p>\n
McCloskey came off the bench to replace the injured Mack Hansen in the first half of Saturday evening\u2019s 36-14 win over Scotland in Paris to help his country set up a quarter-final clash with New Zealand.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old Ulster player has endured a stop-start Test career and been forced to wait for opportunities behind Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CyHWqGRsk-H<\/p>\n
With Henshaw sidelined and Hansen needing to be withdrawn, he finally made his first appearance in France, an occasion made even more memorable by the presence of 11-day-old Kasper, who was carried on to the Stade de France pitch at full-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say you\u2019ll look at those pictures in 20-odd years and it will be pretty cool,\u201d said McCloskey, who required special permission to return home for the birth. \u201cHe was fast asleep, he seemed all right<\/p>\n
\u201cI got home last Monday and my wife gave birth on the Tuesday. It worked out really well and then I was obviously back into the camp at the end of the week, and it was an unfortunate injury to get me in, but it\u2019s been a brilliant week.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCloskey made his Ireland debut in 2016 but his cameo against the Scots was only his 15th cap.<\/p>\n
I know if you put me on the field I will perform well, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I’m not going to sit in the shadows and be angry about it.<\/p>\n
Speaking of having to bide his time for opportunities, he said: \u201cIt was frustrating and it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always look back to what it was before last summer and I wasn\u2019t involved at all and I was thinking about calling it a day with Ireland stuff and I came back in, played a load of games and finally became a part of the team I thought, so it\u2019s nice.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal was to get to a World Cup and I made that and whatever happens from now I\u2019m fine with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know if you put me on the field I will perform well, but if it doesn\u2019t happen, it doesn\u2019t happen. I\u2019m not going to sit in the shadows and be angry about it.\u201d<\/p>\n