Beirne taking captaincy honour in his stride

Captaincy will not be new to the 31-year-old Ireland lock.

Fri, 04 Oct, 2024 - 15:13

Simon Lewis

Tadhg Beirne will lead Munster out against Ospreys at Virgin Media Park on Saturday night as the province’s ninth club captain of the professional era, embracing the extra pressure his new role brings.

Captaincy will not be new to the 31-year-old Ireland lock, who first captained Munster under previous head coach Johann van Graan, but following in the footsteps of Pat Murray, Mick Galwey, Jim Williams, Anthony Foley, Paul O’Connell, Doug Howlett and immediate predecessor Peter O’Mahony on a permanent basis is another development in his leadership journey.

“There’s not been many (captains), that’s for sure, so it’s certainly a high accolade to get and a privilege as well for me. It’s just a massive honour,” Beirne said.

“I remember getting the call from Johann the first time I was given the captaincy and I was pretty nervous going into it but once I got into the game I realised it's just a tag on your name sometimes, even in today's game half the time you don't really need a captain, the ref's not really listening to you anyway!

"So it can just be a tag but there's certainly an onus on you to perform and I kind of enjoy that bit of pressure to make sure I was performing to a certain standard as well, it just gives you an extra kick to make sure you're setting the standards for everyone around you."