'Consistently good' Tadhg Beirne full of confidence ahead of PRO14 final showdown

'Tadhg has been phenomenal for Munster since he joined. Whether he plays four, five or six or seven – he is just a phenomenal rugby player'

Munster's Tadhg Beirne: A key player as the province look to end their trophy drought this weekend. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

It is difficult to imagine a player whose stock has risen higher than Tadhg Beirne’s over Ireland’s recent Guinness Six Nations campaign, or across the championship as a whole for that matter.

Yet for both the player and his provincial coach Johann van Graan, those man of the match performances against Italy and Scotland, his excellence at both lock and blindside flanker and the form that has now ranked him as a certainty for this summer’s British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa have come as no surprise. What did change was that the Munster star finally got the chance to play a consistent run of games in the green jersey, be it the number four, five or six.