Tadhg Beirne: 'You want to put in great performances that the Irish people can get a lift off'

It's a lovely, lovely accolade to get for sure and I appreciate those who voted for me and it's obviously a big honour. A lot of big names have won it in the past so, yeah, it's a big honour for sure."

Thu, 13 Nov, 2025 - 01:05

Simon Lewis

Tadhg Beirne is aiming to build on the form that earned him the Guinness Rugby Writers Ireland Men’s XV Player of the Year award to help the national team finish this month’s Test window on a high.

A successful British & Irish Lions tour to Australia ended with the Munster captain landing the Lions’ player of the series honour following a 2-1 victory over the Wallabies and Beirne brought the level of performance into the new campaign with a towering display in his province’s URC derby victory over Leinster at Croke Park last month in his first appearance of the season.

With two Tests remaining in November, as Ireland round out the Quilter Nations Series of home matches against the Australians this Saturday and then world champions South Africa seven days later, Andy Farrell’s team could do with another emphatic performance from Beirne following a disappointing loss to New Zealand in Chicago and a disjointed effort last weekend in their 41-10 victory over Japan.

For his part, the lock/flanker is relishing the upcoming Aviva Stadium fixtures.

“I think it's just the challenge of the opposition,” Beirne said ahead of Tuesday night’s RWI awards ceremony at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

“We're playing some of the best teams in the world and getting to play at home in front of your home crowd, that's really exciting. I think you just want to go out there and put in great performances that the Irish people can get a lift off.

“We ourselves will be able to look back on them in the coming months and be setting a standard of performances for our future performances, if you know what I mean. I think it's just the opposition that we're playing. I'm really looking forward to being back home and the Aviva after being away with the Lions.

“It's exciting as well. It's always brilliant to get to play at home. The whole November series are generally quite special because you're at home for them. They always have incredible atmospheres and people get really excited around the place. I'm just looking forward to being involved in all of that.”

Commenting on his award having topped a Rugby Writers Ireland poll of members from the national media and succeeded last year’s victor Caelan Doris, Beirne said: “It's a lovely, lovely accolade to get for sure and I appreciate those who voted for me and it's obviously a big honour. A lot of big names have won it in the past so, yeah, it's a big honour for sure.

Beirne described last season as a campaign of ups and downs with both Munster and Ireland. At provincial level he was appointed to succeed Peter O’Mahony as club captain, only to have to lead Munster through a turbulent season when head coach Graham Rowntree departed just six games in. The Reds reached the knockout stages of the URC with back-to-back wins in the final two rounds of the regular season only to lose agonisingly in the quarter-finals on a goal-kicking shootout decider away to the Sharks in South Africa.

In Europe, meanwhile, Beirne led Munster to a famous Champions Cup Round of 16 victory over Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle only for the team to be knocked out the following week at eventual winners Bordeaux-Begles.

Asked how he reflect on 2024-25, Beirne said: “I suppose at times, you find yourself thinking of a few things, usually losses! But, yeah, look, it was a season full of ups and downs like any season.

“At club level it was a season that was kind of a little bit all over the place between the massive honour of being named the captain and then everything that went on in Munster with the coaches and then we weren't playing the best. But we finished the season reasonably well and gave ourselves an opportunity and came up short with the Sharks. So they were kind of positives.

“You look at the positives rather than the negatives there and then, obviously, with Ireland we didn't have the Six Nations we would have hoped for so there were disappointments, but finishing the season off with the Lions on such a high was incredible. I think that's obviously going to be the one that sticks out as such a highlight, and it will stick out as a career high for me in many years to come.”

What made the Lions’ success even more meaningful was the fact that Beirne’s initial selection in the back-row for the opening Test against the Wallabies was no foregone conclusion, but the pep talk he and fellow flanker Tom Curry received from head coach Andy Farrell has stayed with him.

“I think where I was at that point on the tour, you know, mindset-wise, realistically, I was under a bit of pressure. I felt I was under a bit of pressure in terms of selection and all that kind of stuff and my performances needed to improve.

“So I kind of concentrated on different things in the game and it worked to my benefit and I've continued doing that since. You know, preparing for games just a little bit differently, it's helped a lot, hopefully, I've only played one game this season since this tour.

“So, it will depend on selection now over the next couple of weeks, but fingers crossed, I'll be able to continue my performances and keep elevating.”

As for the Lions player of the series award, Beirne said: “I think the main thing is that we've won the series. You know, you give up any personal awards to ensure that your team is winning, for sure. But it's icing on the cake being awarded that nice accolade at the end of that Lions series.

“It was, from a personal point of view, it was a huge honour to win that and something I'll probably look back in a few years and be very proud of, for sure.”