Beirne adapting to different shade of red with Munster

PERHAPS it was a nod to the victorious Limerick hurlers, but Munster’s delegation were decked out in green for their visit to Glasgow to launch the new season yesterday.

For Tadhg Beirne, it’s all about transitioning from his time in Scarlet to a different shade of red as he finds his feet in Munster.

The Kildare native is still commuting to Limerick as he looks for suitable lodgings in his new home, but he is enjoying the new surrounds so far, regardless of the regular trips up and down the M7.

An Ireland international since this June and newly crowned as the Guinness PRO14’s player of last season, he has been hailed by his new captain Peter O’Mahony as “probably the best in the world on the poach”.

Along with the arrival of Joey Carbery, the capture of Beirne (below) is one of the reasons Munster fans are getting excited by the potential of the upcoming campaign.

And the second-row is equally keen to get going.

“I’ve settled in really well,” he said. “The boys are really welcoming and I’m enjoying it so far.

SETTLE

“I’m going to be moving up in the next couple of weeks and I’ve been looking for a house for the last couple of weeks, so once I’m up there I’ll probably settle in even better, but so far so good.

“The boys in Scarlets, I really enjoyed their company, and it’s the same in Munster so far. In terms of the clubs, they are run differently and the culture will be a little bit different. I’m enjoying it so I have no complaints anyway!”

The 26-year-old is already impressing in training according to Munster head coach Johann van Graan.

“He is a multi-skilled rugby player,” the South African said of his new recruit.

“I think the most impressive thing that I saw is his natural feel for the game. He just stepped into the first training session and he is one of those players that believes he can play wing or full-back as well, he will still be special.

“His running of the lineout will be key to us, his poaching ability is welldocumented, but the things

I didn’t know is his feet, his movement in contact.

“Some examples, like the try he scored against

Bath last year in the Champions Cup, hopefully he can reproduce some of that form.

“We are very lucky to have him and very excited to have him now that he is going to play for Munster.”

Despite being one of

Europe’s form players in the last two seasons, Beirne had to bide his time before making his international debut.

It came off the bench in the second Test victory over Australia in Melbourne, before he impressed in a tight finish to the series decider in Sydney a week later.

“I was just eager to get on and kind of try and make my mark,” he said.

“You don’t get too many opportunities, especially at international level, so you have to be switched on and just ready to fit in when you go on.

“That’s all that was going through my head. I came on and did what I had to do and hopefully it was good enough.

“It had been a build-up, especially back here in Ireland. There was always talk of whether I would get into any of the camps or whatever, so finally to be involved, especially against a team like Australia, to get my first cap was pretty incredible.”

After racking up a huge amount of game-time in Wales, Beirne is now being managed by the central system and is likely to be held back for the opening couple of weeks of the season.

When he does make his debut he’ll look to bring his strengths to the Munster set-up, while adapting to the way they play the game.

“Every team has a different way of playing, you have to prove your quality and (figure out) how you can fit into that system,” he said.

“But it’s also still being able to show your qualities as a rugby player.

“Over the last two seasons I’ve had freedom in terms of the ruck and stuff, but to fit in to the way I play and coming up, hopefully, I’ll still be able to do that, but in a smarter way and just keep improving those parts of my game.”