CLASSY BEIRNE CAN SHAKE UP THE OLD ORDER
IT’S BEEN a long time coming but Tadhg Beirne has finally got his chance at the top level. The sight of Beirne’s blue scrum cap buried deep at the bottom of a ruck and the inevitable referee’s whistle for yet another turnover penalty has become his trademark. He will need to show that same tenacity tomorrow. Ireland’s lock stocks are bountiful at present with James Ryan, Devin Toner and Iain Henderson firmly established in the engine room. Quinn Roux is highlyrated by Schmidt and Ultan Dillane has made plenty of blockbusting cameos from the bench. But Beirne has a chance to break up the old order and give Schmidt yet another selection headache. ‘The strength in depth in Ireland at the moment is just incredible,’ Beirne admits after he was handed his first Test start against the Azzurri. ‘Second-row, back-row, the nines, the 10s now, Ross Byrne’s playing really well — any position in the squad is up for grabs and it just shows the system in Ireland is doing something right.’ Beirne’s story is welldocumented but it’s worth remembering that last season’s PRO14 Players’ Player of the Season almost considered hanging up his boots two years after an injury-ravaged spell with Leinster. There was period of delivering pizzas and tentative plans to do a Masters in Real Estate but a call from Scarlets boss Wayne Pivac changed everything. The Kildare native thrived during his time in Llanelli and quickly established himself as one of the premier locks in Europe as well as regular appearances in the back-row. Calls for Schmidt to thrust him into the Test reckoning were deafening last season but the 26-year-old was forced to bide his time. He appeared at a Carton House training camp during last season’s Six Nations but only after his agreed move to Munster did he finally get a shot with Ireland. Two impressive cameos off the bench against the Wallabies followed last summer but tomorrow he will run out with No 4 on his back. ‘This is probably the main reason I came back to Ireland,’ said Beirne. ‘To be given the opportunity in the first game since I’ve come back is huge for me. All I can say is that I am really looking forward to it.’ A powerful lock who regularly gets through 80minute shifts, not to mention his ability to win turnovers, there are few deficiencies in Beirne’s game. However, he admits that his lineout calling is a work in progress. In fact, Quinn Roux will run the lineout at Soldier Field with Devin Toner on the bench as an insurance policy. Munster head coach Johann van Graan and forwards coach Jerry Flannery have entrusted Beirne with that responsibility but he will watch and learn for Ireland. ‘At Scarlets I called as well. Obviously when Aaron Shingler was there, he was the main man but if he ever stepped out, I was calling the lineouts,’ he explained. ‘Obviously then with Munster, it’s something that Johann has asked me to step up and do. I’ve been doing it over the last couple of weeks. I quite enjoy doing it. It’s a good challenge. Obviously you have a bit more control about what is going on around the lineout. If asked to do it in an Irish jersey, I’ll definitely take it with two hands.’ Working under Schmidt will do him no harm in that department. ‘He is very much detailorientated, and you can see that with the way everyone plays here,’ adds Beirne. ‘You see it around the ruck, around everything that moves, it is just all about detail. If you don’t know your detail, you can’t play within a system and you won’t be able to perform. You will stick out like a sore thumb, so it is demanding, not just from Joe but from the players, and from a personal level, I am demanding it from myself.’