Finlay Bealham's Lazarus act crucial to Ireland in Tadhg Furlong's absence

The Connacht tighthead was brilliant in Murrayfield last Sunday. He was part of a watertight Ireland scrum and put in an astonishing amount of work elsewhere. His 14 tackles in 60 minutes was off the charts for a man in his position

Finlay Bealham’s importance to Ireland has been underappreciated.

If there were concerns over Ireland as a collective after an up-and-down November series then they filtered down into the individuals with some key players falling short of their very best across the four games.

Jamison Gibson-Park, who has been exceptional in the opening two rounds of this Six Nations, was fairly typical of that cohort. Finlay Bealham was another who ho-hummed through the last Test window but has since returned to better form.