Finlay Bealham goes back to where it all began

It has been a huge season for Connacht prop Finlay Bealham.

Establishing himself as a valuable and versatile front row player in Pat Lam’s squad, Bealham has been capped for Ireland, and has now celebrated his 50th cap for Connacht in the win over Leinster at the Sportsground last weekend.

This season he has played in every Connacht fixture, and he hopes to continue his good run against Ulster tomorrow night in a return to his Irish roots.

The Canberra-born prop started his Irish career in Ulster with Belfast Harlequins after travelling to Ireland to meet up with his mum’s family, his granny Sadie Ferris hailing from Enniskillen.

Although she passed away four years ago, Bealham knows other family members will be watching.

“I still have family there who will be watching the game if they aren’t in Ravenhill, but we are going up there to do a job so it won’t play too much in my head.”

Bealham will once again be facing a tough front row, led by Ireland captain Rory Best, after stacking up against both Cian Healy and Jack McGrath last weekend — a little sooner than expected as a result of Nathan’s White’s concussion in the opening five minutes.

“I had been watching Healy play for a long time, and then in the Ireland camp, so mentally it didn’t affect me too much because it was something I had done in training with him and a couple of the other lads. It was just a matter of coming on and focusing on what I could do, my job, and helping the lads.

“Obviously they are two world class props and coming on pretty early I knew I had a big shift in me. It was a tough workout and thankfully we did well.”

Now the 22-year-old is expecting more of the same in the hostile environment of Ravenhill as Connacht seek to maintain their lead of the Pro12 and hopes of a first semi-final.

“We are prepared for a a big scrum, big maul, a lot of hard runners, so we will have to be really physical. You don’t go up to Ravenhill and expect to dominate them up front, because it just isn’t going to happen. You have to work for everything you can get.”

“We might not get many chances to score, so there is pressure on us that every chance we get, we have to make the most of it.”

It is 55 years since Connacht won in Ravenhill which is a heavy burden to carry, but Bealham says it is more important to concentrate on the job ahead.

“I feel it a little bit, but it doesn’t bother me that much because I know what I have to do for the team and play my own role. That is what I concentrate on to the best of my ability, and then the result will take care of itself.

“If we do win after 55 years it would be awesome, but first we have to focus on the job, and I wouldn’t let it get into my head that much.

“We continue to play game by game, and with lads injured and others coming back from injury, we can’t look too far down the tracks. We just have to treat each team with the utmost respect and come up with the right game plan to beat them. If you look too far into the future, you could get caught, so we are in a good position, but we have to continue the work we are doing.”