ADAM ON A REAL HIGH FOLLOWING LIONS SOS
IT has been some journey for Adam Beard. Axed by Wales in the autumn, a Lion just eight months later. That’s a transformation which was completed on Saturday night when he was named as a replacement for the stricken Alun Wyn Jones for the tour of South Africa.
It’s fair to say it’s a selection which didn’t meet with universal approval.
In fact, it provoked real negativity and even downright derision in some quarters.
Initially, the fury came from Irish pundits and punters, incandescent at the omission of Leinster’s James Ryan.
That was quelled when it emerged Ryan had picked up a strain in training with Ireland last week, meaning he was ruled out of contention.
Then the focus switched to Scottish supporters expressing outrage over Jonny Gray not getting the call.
Now Gray is a fine player, a serial tackler and a strong carrier, a man with 64 caps of Test experience and a key figure in the powerful Exeter pack.
But Beard is a fine player too, and the way his call-up has been slated by some is disrespectful to someone with such an impressive international CV.
After all, this is a man who has figured prominently in two Six Nations title-winning campaigns.
He played in all five games during Wales’ 2019 Grand Slam – starting four of them – and he was once again in from the start for four matches as the Championship crown was secured this year.
His role was particularly significant this season.
Recalled to the squad, he was to prove a central figure in sorting out the Welsh lineout which had malfunctioned so badly in the autumn campaign.
Handed the responsibility of acting as caller, the 25-year-old kept a cool head and chose the right options, working in tandem with the returning Ken Owens.
The end result was that after a few hiccups in the opener against Ireland, the lineout went from being an area of weakness to one of real strength, providing the platform for a number of Wales’ tries during the campaign.
Beard is also invaluable when it comes to the defensive side of that set-piece.
He is hugely effective in disrupting driving lineout mauls, using his telescopic reach to get in and mess things up for the opposition, swimming his way across, just like Luke Charteris used to do.
It’s his unique selling point. But he also provides good all-round workrate and has developed his handling game, as shown by the part he played in the build-up to Louis Rees-Zammit’s decisive try against Scotland in Murrayfield.
Above all, he is now performing with real consistency.
He is also someone who Warren Gatland has a lot of time for.
When he first brought Beard on board, Gatland was asked what he liked about the Ospreys youngster.
He famously replied: “You can’t coach someone to be 6ft 8ins.”
That height makes him a real asset at lineout time, while he also offers 18st 13lbs of ballast in the boilerhouse.
That’s the kind of size and physicality Gatland clearly feels will be crucial against the juggernaut South African packs and so he has gone for the Swansea-born lock.
Beard was actually up for press duties last Thursday to talk about Wales’ forthcoming Tests against Canada and Argentina.
Little did he know then that his summer was to take him in a very different direction.
But, looking back, it was informative to listen to him talk about his experiences in the season just gone.
“It was a massive disappointment not being picked in the autumn,” he said of his omission from Wayne Pivac’s Welsh squad last October.
“Wayne and the coaches gave me that feedback and told me to go back to my region, get a good run of games and show the form I put in when Gats was here.
“I was lucky enough to get selected in the Six Nations and it went from there.
“I was given a leadership role around running the lineouts and that was my cup and tea, my bread and butter.”
Asked whether his exclusion from the autumn squad may have been a blessing in disguise, he replied: “Yes, probably it was.
“It was about that consistency of performance.
“For the club, I’d have one good game and the next week I’d have an average game.
“At this level you need to be consistently performing at the highest level to be within a shout in the Test period.
“The coaches gave me those workons. I went back and I’ve got to give a lot of praise to the Ospreys coaches like Toby Booth, Duncan Jones and all the guys back there.
“They gave me that confidence, and the help and support to go out there and put my best foot forward to get myself back into the Test position which lucky enough I did.
“Toby just gives confidence to players to go and express themselves. Players all have their points of difference, and he says first and foremost show your point of difference, and all the other areas of the game you’ve got to work on.
“He just helps you with stuff like that.
“Boothy is actually a really good lineout nous and he’s been helping me around all the stuff to do with the lineout.
“So he’s been really good.”
It’s Beard’s point of difference, particularly in terms of the lineout, that has indeed got him the nod and he flies out to South Africa ready to scale new heights in his revitalised career.