‘You could see Tadhg had a lot of talent’
LEINSTER’S Dan Leavy admits he didn’t realise how good former team-mate Tadhg Beirne would become after he left the province in 2016. Beirne has proved a huge success at Scarlets, with the lock nominated for European Player of the Year award ahead of his summer move to Munster. ‘I’ve always held Tadhg in very high regard,’ said Leavy. ‘Me and Tadhg were always in the yellow bibs when we were going through the academy. I always thought he was really good, it used to be a straight-out brawl between me and Tadhg and all the senior players. We were trying to prove ourselves and they were trying to keep us down in the academy for as long as possible. ‘He was very unlucky with injuries in his time here. You definitely need the bit of luck too and it didn’t really fall for him here. Ultimately the cream rises to the top and he’s done fantastically over there.’ Beirne leads the charts for turnovers in the Champions Cup this season with 16, but Leavy says he didn’t particularly stand out in his early Leinster days. ‘Hindsight’s a beautiful thing. I’m not going to say I always thought he’d be as good as he is. But he definitely always had a lot of talent. ‘He’s definitely someone who will put his body on the line. He’s clocked up some serious minutes for Scarlets this season and showed his durability. ‘We’re going to have to really target him and not let him make a mess of our ball, as he does every other team.’