Tadhg Beirne: 'We believe Ireland are capable of beating any team in the world'

BEIRNE BABY BEIRNE: Tadhg Beirne poses for a portrait after an Ireland Rugby media conference at the IRFU High Performance Centre. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Tadhg Beirne walked in off the training paddock, picked up a 500ml bottle of mineral water and swigged it in one go. His chest was still heaving as he eventually sat down to take the first question.

It was as if he hadn’t stopped scrambling since last Saturday night when his eye for a poach against Leinster at Croke Park made for one of the best displays by an Irish player of modern times.

Yes, it was absolutely that good.

The 31-14 win allowed Munster’s quintet of Ireland squad members to walk into the HPC in Abbotstown on Monday morning with heads held high and as they started preparations for a November window that starts in Chicago next week against the All Blacks.

Beirne was chuffed with the win, and with the club's start to the season, but October isn’t the month for champagne.

“I certainly won’t be getting ahead of myself in terms of one win against Leinster and thinking we’re the bee’s knees. I’m sure when we play them again the day after St Stephen’s Day, it will be a very difficult challenge and they’ll be well up for it again.”

The fact that Beirne underwent a “clean-out” on an elbow injury after his player of the series efforts for the British and Irish Lions, while Leinster’s summer tourists looked so flat on the night, made his display in Dublin all the more remarkable.

He enjoyed the gradual return to the ranks this term but there was still an eagerness to go again. So much so that there was an unsuccessful request put in to Andy Farrell to get back playing before the Croke Park game.

And now to Soldier Field.

Beirne had only just left Leinster for Scarlets when Joe Schmidt’s Ireland claimed that historic win against the All Blacks in the Windy City in 2016. He looked on from afar, in the company of some friends and a few bevvies.

If that was the moment the relationship between the teams flipped then Beirne has been crucial to maintaining Ireland’s equality with them since given both have won five of the last ten meetings.

“We believe we’re capable of beating any team in the world, but we have to get our stuff right first and that’s what we’ll be focusing on over the next two weeks, trying to take another step forward in terms of everything we do.

“If we can do that, we’ll certainly be able to put it up to them.”

Tadhg Beirne during a Ireland Rugby media conference. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

The All Blacks go to the US having played nine Tests against top-quality opposition since July. This Ireland collective hasn’t played since the Six Nations in March, even if a chunk did tour Australia with the Lions.

It’s an Irish team that sits at a curious and, some would argue, dangerous juncture given the loss of leaders in Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy on one side, and the perceived lack of new blood at the other end.

Beirne and a few of the other older heads had a chuckle when considering their senior status at the start of camp. Plenty has been learned, by osmosis as much as anything, from those who have moved on. The world keeps turning.

“That's just the reality of sport. The exciting thing is seeing younger lads starting to come up through and bring an extra edge to training. You have to move on, the game moves on and that will be me one day, stepping away from Ireland. The game keeps going.”

His days aren’t numbered yet.

A key cog in the Ireland engine room throughout the Farrell era, Beirne’s form is, if anything, improving with age. The worry is that the team just isn’t being revitalised quickly enough around him with players of a younger vintage.

The squad Farrell chose for this November window didn't quell the fears of those who believe that the time is now to start infiltrating new blood into the side so it can be ready for the 2027 World Cup.

Beirne’s take is that you go with your best, always, and that players will inevitably earn the right to feature. Not least with a head coach that has made some bold selection calls in his time in charge.

“If I don't play well - hopefully I'm selected - he won't be shy in saying I'll be dropped for the one after that. It's on all of us who are selected to try and hold our position. As we get closer to the World Cup, we have to keep those performances going.

"It's easy for me to say now, but age is just a number until it isn't. Your performance will start to deplete and, once that starts to happen, that's when the squad is going to change."