'Incredible work' going into line-out - McCarthy

Gus McCarthy won his seventh cap against Japan in Dublin on Saturday

Ireland hooker Gus McCarthy said the side are putting incredible work to ensure their line-out is where it "should be" against Australia this weekend.

Andy Farrell's forward pack have struggled out of touch during periods of Test matches against New Zealand and Japan this month. They will face the Wallabies in Dublin on Saturday (20:10 GMT) before finishing their November slate by hosting South Africa a week later.

While Ireland have had long stretches of their set-piece being a strength, the inconsistency has been a factor dating back to the last World Cup in 2023.

Like in the defeat by the All Blacks a week prior, Ireland's first line-out of the game went awry in Saturday's victory over Japan and, across the 80 minutes, they lost three of 17.

There was, however, a marked improvement as the game wore on with second-half replacement McCarthy scoring a 66th-minute try off of a maul.

"I think it's just kind of going back to basics," said the 22-year-old.

"I know a lot of things happen in a line-out, a lot of times a lot of onus is put on the hooker, but there's a lot of different moving parts.

"It's very tough on everyone in the line-out, but as a squad, we're putting in incredible work so I'm sure we should be back to where we should be next week."

Farrell's assistant with responsibility for the line-out is Paul O'Connell with McCarthy adding that the legendary Ireland lock is a far calmer presence as a coach than his playing persona may suggest.

"Paulie, he's incredibly detail-focused. What I've learned from him is just he's very, very process-driven, and he gets you to just double down on yourself," added the Leinster hooker.

"He's very calm and very composed. He'll just maybe give a few tips on where he thinks we can improve on. He's very calm, there's no screaming or shouting.

"Paulie puts such trust in us. We have such a good plan and such a good group of lads."