Beirne: ‘This is probably the main reason I came back’

Simon Lewis This is why he came home.

This is why he came home.

It was clearly a wrench for Tadhg Beirne to leave Scarlets this summer, but the lure of a Test career with Ireland was too big an opportunity to waste for the former Leinster discard.

Two appearances off the bench in the series win over the Wallabies in Australia in June gave the 26-year-old Kildare man a taste of things to come and yesterday in Chicago came the vindication that his decision to join Munster and leave behind a club that had resurrected his career and rewarded him with a PRO12 winner’s medal had been the right call.

It came in the shape of a first Test start for the national team which will see Beirne wear the number four jersey against Italy at Soldier Field tomorrow night and the prospect is as dizzying as the 360-degree spins he was asked to perform before shooting a hoop at the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.

More of that later, Beirne has more important matters to reflect on.

“Yeah, first Test start, exciting stuff,” the lock said. “I’m just really looking forward to Saturday now, making sure that the head is screwed on and I perform well and we go again after that.

“This is probably the main reason I came back to Ireland. To be given the opportunity in the first game since I have come back is huge for me. All I can say is that I am really looking forward to it.

“It’s an opportunity for me to put my hand up. It’s my first start. These opportunities don’t come around too often.

“It doesn’t matter who it is against or what the occasion is, it’s a start in a green jersey. It’s a big moment for me. I just have to do what I am asked to do and hopefully I can put in a good performance.”

Beirne is enjoying life at Munster, though he admitted his contributions are still a work in progress for Johann van Graan’s side.

“So far, so good. I haven’t had as many wins as I would have liked thus far, but I think that will come. I think we are starting to find our feet there. I am finding my feet there a lot better. My performances at the start weren’t where I would have liked them to be. They are slowly improving and thankfully I did enough to get into camp.

“It was just more about the system and everything like that. I was finding it kind of difficult to get into games the way I probably used to. It was just taking more time and I was probably getting frustrated with myself about not contributing what I usually would have contributed to, but look, I feel like my performances have been improving more and more. I’m getting to know the players around me and what they are good at and everything like that. The better you know your team-mates the better you play, for sure. I think my performances have definitely been going up and hopefully they keep going that way.”

Beirne’s efforts in the Champions Cup last month against Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester have represented a step up in gear and he added: “I probably put in better performances in those two games than I had in the PRO14 up to that date. For me, they were definitely big games, but when you go up to that level, the whole club lifts and maybe that was a big part of that as well, that extra lift in the club. Everyone was just excited to play those games.”

Yet, Beirne is already acutely aware that playing Test rugby is another step up again and he will not have the same licence to roam as he is given by van Graan at provincial level.

“Test level is completely different, particularly in terms of how quick the game is and I don’t think I will have that kind of licence, mainly because you can’t come out of the system, because if you do, the opposition will just pick you off, but if the opportunity comes up in front of me, and I feel I can go and poach, I will. It is all about being smart and knowing when to go for it.”

Beirne thought he knew when to go for it when the squad attended the Bulls game with the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night as he signed up for a half-court shot during a time-out. It did not go as expected and the Ireland forward pointed the finger of blame at team media officer David Ó Siocháin for not telling him he would have to perform some disorientating spins before attempting his shot.

“Well, we were told it was a half-court shot and we all thought it was going to be a half-court shot, and then five minutes before they come out and they were explaining the rules and I was thinking ‘what’s going on here?’ “And I had nominated myself and then they came out with a helmet as well, and I’m going ‘the lads are going to love this’, and so I didn’t get my half-court shot. A bit of an embarrassment and the lads got a good kick out of it. He (Ó Siocháin) also told me we’d courtside tickets, which we didn’t.

“It was class. Really cool. Look, I ended up getting to go on the Chicago Bulls court and have a shot, so I can’t complain.”