'My phone's never buzzed so much' - Ireland star McCloskey on memorable Six Nations

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell used 35 players during the Six Nations but only two were ever-present.

One, unsurprisingly, was captain Caelan Doris. The other was Stuart McCloskey.

After an injury-hit autumn campaign, McCloskey enjoyed an outstanding championship, playing a pivotal role as Ireland won the Triple Crown.

He led Ireland in carries (74), offloads (eight), try assists (six), defenders beaten (20) and post-contact metres (105) and provided one of the moments of the tournament when he chased down Marcus Smith in the win over England.

In the closing stages of Ireland's record 42-21 win at Twickenham, McCloskey sprinted back and barrelled the England back into touch, a moment that gained much traction online.

And the 33-year-old admitted it was hard to avoid the clip of the tackle or receiving messages about it in the days after the game.

"It was hilarious, after my phone has never been buzzed as much in my whole life," he told the Ireland Rugby Social podcast.

"I had a few messages for the quarterback offload to Rob [Baloucoune for Ireland's third try in their win over Italy] the week before but the chase down of Marcus went viral, you couldn't not see it for three or four days!"

McCloskey's revival at Test level has been a long time coming.

The Ulster man made his Ireland debut in 2016 but has had to be patient for a prolonged opportunity at centre with the likes of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw previously in his way.

But with the former suspended for the first three games and the latter's injury troubles, McCloskey grasped the chance he always thought would come with both hands.

"I didn't think it would take to 33 to get to five games in a row in the Six Nations," he added.

"I never thought I was too far away from actually playing and, not being arrogant, but I backed my ability that I still thought I had it and was a pretty good player.

"Testament to Faz who kept me wanting to do it, it's easy for lads to get disheartened when not playing but it was a good environment to be in."

McCloskey and Aki had a playful spat when Ulster beat Connacht 29-24 in December.

While they are now friends, he admits when they were younger "we wouldn't have been as friendly" given they were both competing for the same position.

"In our younger years there was probably a bit more friction and we didn't get on that well, we wouldn't have been as friendly," admitted McCloskey.

"But now, as time has gone on, we've spent so much time in the squad together we are quite friendly now.

"It wouldn't have been a bad thing, we were both really competitive. I was trying to get past him when he was nearly world player of the year one year and Robbie was there, we've all been there for the guts of six seven years, it's a good relationship.

"We're all as happy as we can be when the other is playing and going well. There's a bit of jealousy, I'm sure the lads would have loved to play this tournament if Robbie hadn't been injured or Bundee having the small ban."

When asked to pick personal and collective highlights from a Six Nations in which McCloskey shone and Ireland came agonisingly close to the championship, he opted for the NFL style try assist for Baloucoune against Italy and the post-match celebrations against England.

"I probably liked the quarterback one to Rob more, it was a bit different," he explained.

"The Marcus Smith one is there and will always be there as a nice moment to have, but those offloads are a bit different and showed my game.

"As a team, probably England and celebrations after. It's hard to decide which was better but at the weekend [after beating Scotland] sitting having a few pints with the lads and properly cheering on England, living on every drop ball.

"It was great but I was mentally drained watching.

"It will be a Six Nations they'll remember for a long time. The weather was good for a lot of it, format was good, some of the new rules made more open play so it all culminated in a great tournament."