NO HEADS OR WALES
It wasn’t a toss of the coin between countries for Beirne as he only had Ireland on his mind
TADHG BEIRNE has revealed that he was asked about playing for Wales when he was with the Scarlets.
But the Munster star insists his mind was already made up to come home and fight for Ireland recognition by the time Wayne Pivac made the pitch.
At the time, World Rugby’s residency rule was three years and Beirne had resurrected his career with a two-year stint in Llanelli after he was released by Leinster.
Pivac, who was then the Scarlets’ director of rugby, wanted the Kildare man to extend his stay, but
Beirne’s success for the region had put him on Joe Schmidt’s radar and he joined Munster in the summer of 2018.
Beirne, speaking ahead of Ireland’s Six Nations opener in Cardiff on Saturday, said that returning Wales boss Warren Gatland (inset) never made an approach to get him to stay in the Welsh system.
“I only ever wanted to play for Ireland, that was the reality,” said the 31-year-old.
“And when it became a talking point that there was an opportunity to play for Ireland, the only thing I wanted to do was come back and play for Ireland.
“So I didn’t have a conversation with Warren but I did have a conversation with Wayne before I left Scarlets and he tried to encourage me to stay because he did say the World Cup was the following year and I’d be qualified for it.
“But I think I’d made my decision before that, that I wanted to wear green for the World Cup not to be in red.
“So it didn’t really cross my mind too much because I wanted to play in green. If I felt I didn’t have a chance maybe it would have been a different conversation.”
Beirne did go to the 2019 World Cup with Ireland, but it wasn’t until Schmidt left the hot-seat after the finals and Andy Farrell took charge that he blossomed at Test level.
Now Beirne can’t wait to get back to the Principality Stadium – to where his in-laws will make the trip from the Bridgend area for Saturday’s game.
“My wife is Welsh, her whole family are Welsh so I’m over and back to Wales every so often.
“I had a brilliant time over there and a lot of people I know I’ll come up against, a few lads I played with, so it’s a cool fixture to get to play in.
“My wife might be Welsh but she’ll be wearing green on Saturday.”
Ireland’s Six Nations record in Cardiff has not been good of late – it is a decade since they last won there – and Beirne more than anyone understands why the Welsh players come together as such a cohesive unit even when their club sides are not performing well.
“I learned that they’re incredibly passionate about the Welsh flag, and the actual Welsh team,” he remarked.
“Watching those lads head off, they’d be very excited heading away and they were very passionate about playing for their country.
“You get to see that first hand how much it means to them, they show that at times, especially when they’re at home, how much playing for Wales means to them.”
Beirne warned there is “going to be a reaction” with Gatland returning as Pivac’s replacement and he points to the Principality atmosphere playing a big part for the hosts.
“We’ve spoken about that this week, about how big an occasion it can be, not to be shocked by the noise, by the intensity that they can bring from being on at home,” h e said.
“That
Is on us, to deal with those pressures. In the past, in the last couple of times I’ve played there, my first cap in the Six Nations was there and unfortunately it didn’t go particularly well, they ended up winning a Grand Slam in the last game of the season.
“That was my first experience of it and it really shocked me in terms of noise level, just the intensity of the game.
“So it’s important that, for anyone who hasn’t played there before, we make them aware of how intense this game will be and how good Wales can be at home.
“If we can go in ready and prepared for that then I think we’ll be in a very good place.”