One last dance for Tadhg Furlong with place in Lions pantheon secure
STICKING HIS NECK OUT: Tadhg Furlong at British & Irish Lions training at Shore School, Sydney. Pic: Billy Stickland, Inpho
There will be one last dance as a British & Irish Lion, probably, for Tadhg Furlong on Saturday as the tighthead prop makes his ninth consecutive Test start to cement his status as one of Ireland’s greatest Lions, and not everyone will be pleased to see him.
"I'd rather (Andy Farrell) wasn't starting him for the third Test in a row, because he's such a gifted player and such a good character,” Australia boss Joe Schmidt.
"I love guys like that, who really put everything into the game and he's such a good character in the team.
"The first time I met him, he came in with his Mum and Dad with Collie McEntee who was coaching the Leinster academy, I was coaching there and he got brought into the office and introduced himself. He blocked the sun, briefly, and those shoulders haven't got any smaller since.
"He's certainly an impressive young man and a world class player, so if he wants a day off on Saturday I'd be happy to see that."
Now 32, Furlong’s celebrations from the side of the pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Saturday as Hugo Keenan scored his series-securing try suggested a player with no intention of missing a minute of this series, the subbed-off prop bouncing down the touchline, arms punching the air.
It would have made for the perfect ending to his journey with the famous touring side which had begun in New Zealand eight years ago and Furlong relished the joy and camararderie last weekend’s 29-26 victory brought to the Lions dressing room at the MCG. Yet there is unfinished business to negotiate as they bid for a 3-0 series win over Australia at Sydney’s Accor Stadium and the drive to finish the tour unbeaten in nine games on these shores has not been hard to summon.
A victory over the Wallabies at Accor Stadium on Saturday would be the icing on the cake but Furlong is content with his body of work in the famous red jersey while Test start number nine to come will draw him level for consecutive starts with his 2021 captain Alun Wyn Jones, the Wales lock (2013-21), and England scrum-half Dickie Jeeps (1955-59). Only four Lions have played more Tests in succession, including Tony O’Reilly (10, 1955-59) and Willie John McBride at the top of the list with 15.
“It's great. Lions Tours are some of the best days of your career and I'm delighted to be able to go again.
“It wasn't something I overly thought of or I didn't know about either, to be honest with you. I just wanted to try to get on tour and play rugby and see where it got me, but it's class, yeah. To be up there.
“I remember I got selected, or people were speculating when I was going on the first Lions Tour. I was young and I was like, you think of Lions and you think of the players and you don't see yourself there to be mentioned in the same breath as them and I probably feel the same way now.”
A drawn series against the All Blacks in 2017 at the age of 24, and a 2-1 loss to the Springboks behind closed doors during a Covid lockdown in South Africa four years ago offer plenty of opportunities to compare and contrast with the present tour.
“Each group of lads and coaches bring a different flavour to it. So, obviously the coach himself is completely different. 17 and 21 were similar-ish, obviously under Warren Gatland. And if you want to throw the South African one out of the mix, how does it compare to 17?
“I was probably young and making my way through it all and learning it all. Gats kind of backed me really. He backed Mako (Vunipola), myself and Jamie George through each of the Saturdays.
“I felt pressure by it, in a rugby country like New Zealand, there was pressure. I felt pressure. I probably didn't enjoy it socially as much as I should have, looking back.
“I think it's all part of the journey. Whereas this one, it's a great group of lads. I suppose I'm very familiar with the coaches. You feel more at ease. Obviously, I've gone on two and been around rugby a lot more. You feel more at ease. You feel more belonging straight from the start.”
Yet there is something about being on a Lions tour he cannot quite put his finger on.
“I've heard a lot of people explain Lions tours. I probably haven't found an explanation in a verbal form that matches how you feel about it as a player. It's a special thing. It really is. From all aspects.”
Explaining the feeling of a winning Lions Test series compared to his Grand Slams with Ireland, and Champions Cup and URC titles with Leinster is less complicated, however.
Furlong added: “It's up there. It's up there. It's such a hard thing to do, and history tells you that. When you play for the Lions, you understand why, in terms of moulding everyone together and trying to get them on the same track, and the schedule and travel.
“It's right up there. As an achievement, as a team, there's not a massive body of work. You have eight weeks of work to show for it. Some of the other ones, you're trying for a long time and building over a season. It's probably one of the more satisfying, I would say, achievements that I've been a part of.
“I've never really had a long-term injury either, per se. I've had very healthy joints, knees, backs, necks. I've avoided all those things throughout my career, so I am very fortunate. I was very fortunate to get breaks when I got breaks as a young fella.
“I obviously came up through a good tutelage of the older lads in Leinster and Ireland, but I kind of got breaks, and that kind of maybe breakthrough year I had in 16-17, kind of came in time with a Lions tour, which was pure fortune.”
Schmidt this week recalled the development of a player he handed an Ireland debut to in a World Cup warm-up game against Wales 10 years ago this month.
"The first time he played a couple of Tests for us in Ireland, he found it tough as young props often do.
"The first thing you realise is that this kid is resilient, he had a couple of injuries early on in his career. He got through those, then he got knocked back a couple of times early on, particularly at scrum... South Africa (2016) was a baptism of fire.
"Since then, he's grown into a player who is multi-purpose.
"I'll never forget the deft little offload he gave to Bundee Aki to go through a gap, to give CJ Stander a try at Twickenham (in the Grand Slam-clinching game of 2018).
"Those skills he has with the ball, his ability to carry himself and he's very good, quite dynamic in the defensive line.
"We were here, on tour, in 2018 and I remember David Pocock was just about to decide to get over the ball and Tadhg Furlong put him back a couple of metres from the ball.
"He's a pretty well rounded, literally well rounded, character."
Furlong could still be in his prime, for a front-rower, for Tests 10, 11 and 12 in four years when the Lions return to New Zealand but he brushes off the suggestion with a smile and a chuckle.
“Just about to turn 37. Could you imagine?”
That many could imagine just that scenario underlines just what a unique player he is as a ball-playing tighthead, but Furlong has already embraced the prospect of his final game in red.
“You're still playing for the Lions. It's not hard to motivate yourself. My motivation is obvious. I'm not going to say I won't. I probably won't. I probably won't play for the Lions again. It's been very good to me. It's been very good to my career. You want to play well in it.
“I'm kind of leaving a lot of that emotional stuff behind us, without being clinical about it. You want to give the best version of yourself to it. Sometimes the last memory is the lasting memory you have in a jersey. I want it to be a good one.”
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