FINLAY BEALHAM HAS been backed by his provincial scrum coach to make a big impact with Ireland after being suddenly called back into the international camp yesterday morning while he was training with Connacht.
The 32-year-old, who was dropped from the matchday squad for the win over Wales after Munster’s recent signing Oli Jager got the nod, was summoned back to the Irish camp just as he was about to begin a scrummaging session in Galway.
The tighthead prop had been released from Irish camp at the weekend and trained with Connacht on Monday and Tuesday. He was due to play against Scarlets next Saturday at Dexcom Stadium.
And Wednesday’s change of plans came as a surprise to Connacht.
“I’m not sure why he has been recalled, you can only speculate,” said Connacht scrum and contact coach Colm Tucker.
“Obviously they’re training themselves on Thursday and Friday, so they might have got a knock or a bang. They obviously need six or seven props in camp if they want to scrum themselves so maybe one of them picked up a niggle in the game at the weekend that we don’t know about.
I’m not sure of the reason but there certainly would be a valid reason because I know they were keen for Finlay to get minutes this weekend and I think he was released to play 100%, so something must have happened.
Bealham won the most recent of his 38 caps when he started in the win over Italy having come off the bench in Marseille on the opening night win over France, but he was dropped from the matchday squad for the Welsh game after Jager was drafted in.
But Tucker says Bealham will rise to the challenge and continue to make a big impact on the international stage.
“He was obviously disappointed but such is life as a professional. You’re in one minute, then you’re not in. Obviously, they wanted to see how Oli Jager went, he has went well for Munster, so Finlay was unfortunately dropped out.
“But you have to look back against France: he came on and he impacted very positively at set-piece. Against Italy, he impacted very positively at set-piece as well, won penalties and was dominant and he has to be able to fall back on that.
“He was excited because of the person he is to come back and perform for us this weekend and that was his attitude from Sunday when I spoke to him right through to until he goes back into camp now.
“I think he has to lean on his experience and the reality of being a professional rugby player.”
The Australian-born Bealham has taken a more circuitous route than most to international rugby having initially left home in Canberra to try make a make with Ulster, but Tucker believes that the manner of his development has been no harm and that the wider Irish public is only getting to know him now, eight years after his Ireland debut.
“I think he is a special character, first of all. He is his own man, very individual. He became a father recently which he’s very proud of and it’s brilliant.
“I think Finlay is the kind of guy who has worked unbelievably hard to get the most out of himself. His preparation, how he trains is second to none. He’s a brilliant professional and it might have taken him that little bit longer to come into the limelight but there’s nothing wrong with that.
“Everybody’s journey is different and sometimes a journey like that can be more beneficial in terms of rounding an individual as a rugby player and a person.
“In terms of my area, the breakdown, he’s fantastic. He’s a good ball-carrier, good in terms of how he works on the floor, his ruck is second to none and then as a scrummager, I think he’s up there with the top around the world to be quite honest.
“His point of difference in terms of how he gets across the line, how he gets the height; he’s a special prop. He really is. Very mobile, good mauler, if you are looking for a really good tighthead then you wouldn’t look further than him.
“He adds a lot to the scrum, he’s a leader around scrummaging as well and he loves it. He has been brilliant to work with and he’s well able to take criticism if he’s challenged, so hopefully we will see him push more into the front because he deserves it,” added Tucker.
Quality player, very surprised he was dropped.
I’d be very surprised if he was dropped in the first place as he needed match time. He’s better than Jager in all facets that I’ve seen, scrum, maul and as we’ve all seen, in the lose. Jager, just not seeing it with him especially scrum. Am I missing something???
@Noel Lynn: Bealham is certainly well ahead of Jager and all other TH (Furlong apart) in Ireland, but I think Jager is doing a better job than you’re giving credit for. He’s been very good at scrum time for munster, especially when he came up against Porter, and was solid against Wales. His ruck defense was excellent both clearing and counter rucking and his goal line defense was superb. His lineout work wasn’t up to scratch IMO and he still needs to improve his S&C but he’s certainly got a high ceiling and a great addition to our TH stock.
@Noel Lynn: Short answer – yes
Easily the best TH after Furlong, who seems to have recovered some of his previous form. Great to have several options here between Furlong, Bealham, O’Toole and Jager. The order is not important as they are all playing well at the moment.
Literally no one else is suprised.
@Thesaltyurchin: I’m surprised, arguably pushing Furlong for a starting spot
Bealham is a quality player but I think it’s getting a bit clearer that farrell and his coaches are huge fans of jager. To go from the ‘training squad’ to the verge of the 1st choice 23 over a couple of weeks is pretty phenomenonal
@munsterman: jager has plenty to work on to over take Bealham. He may not have over taken TO’T yet, so 1 step at a time.
@Patrick O’Sullivan: well I’ve never seen farrell move so quickly to promote a player in a meaningful match. Even players like Joe Mccarthy and crowley had to put in their time in camp for a year or so. There’s every chance that bealham will be back-up th v England but you wouldn’t bet on it
@munsterman: There’s every chance that Bealham will start and Jager on the bench if Furlong injured.
@Con Cussed: yea that’d be the most likely scenario I’d imagine. It’s quite tough on otoole who’s been very good for Ireland too
@munsterman: Agreed. It just means the pressure is now on all four to keep the momentum up. It’s a tough position and injuries abound so can see them all getting a chance in the future.
This could mean Furlong has an injury concern… I hope not!
Has anyone authoritative said that Bealham was dropped? As far as I recall the mood music before the Welsh game was that Bealham had proved himself across a number of matches to be no great step down from Furlong; and that Farrell was taking advantage of a game we were almost certain to win to have a look at Jäger off the bench.
Depressing stuff
@Kevin Ryan: when have we ever seen farrell use a competitive game to just have a look at a player? The only time he ever changes up his side much is v the most tier2 of tier2 nations in Nov or else gets A games set up
@munsterman: Giving a guy a debut as a bench prop is not really changing the side much, though. And if he didn’t pick this game, he’d have to wait until the Autumn, assuming SA too strong. Anyways, we’ll see what Farrell does with the selection for the England game.
The story around Bealham is a bit of a head scratcher. Why was he dropped? Some say he needed time off as a new dad. Personally I believe the coaches think Jager is a better prop. When your coach uses faint praise to describe your last performance then you are in trouble. I think Farrell described Bealham’s last outing as “decent enough”. In all these scenarios the public never gets a true picture until someone writes a book.
@Tom Reilly: I seem to have missed him saying that about Bealham – was that in a press conference? I checked the post Italy match press conference again to refresh my memory, and Faz was effusive in his praise of the set piece, calling it excellent and top notch, so I’m surprised he would then be naming Finlay as not being a top performer. A lot of media said that Finlay was doing as much as he could possibly do to challenge Furlong for the starting berth on the back of his performance against Italy, so I don’t think I’m the only one who thought he performed excellent in that match.
@Tom Reilly: ah, I heard it now – it was from the pre-Wales match conference. To be honest, the way I hear it, it seemed more so saying that Oli deserved a chance in spite of Bealham having a decent performance. TBH, I think he couldn’t say “Wales’ scrum is poor so this is the best chance to give Oli a tryout in the six nations window”, so has to justify it on the basis of competition for places. If he said Finlay was excellent, then he would effectively be needing to say that Oli is even better, which would be a huge amount of pressure to put on a debutant. So, he kind of has to nearly qualify Bealham’s performance so as not to put down Wales.
@JoeVlogs: As I said earlier it is hard to know what exactly is going on. I think most people think Bealham did not deserve to be dropped from a playing point of view. Maybe something else is going on.
The euphemism that Alex Ferguson developed to replace “dropped” was “rotated.” The image that most of us have of a “dropped” player is of someone so bad in the last match that they had to be replaced. Sometimes it is about building squad depth, other times you were the Lions captain last week and this week not in the 23 – an utterly unexplainable event.
I suspect that Furlong has twinged his hamstring. If Furlong is out, Bealham absolutely starts ahead of Jager – and we all know that.
@PatN: I meant calf not hamstring
Bealham should be pushing Furlong for a starting position not getting dropped
When was the last v good game from Furlong?
@Derek Casserly: Last week!
There is much debate about the word “dropped” concerning Bealham. Was he or wasn’t he dropped. IMO if a player is available for selection, has been selected everytime he is available and then he is not selected, then he is indeed deemed “dropped”.
Let’s stop using the word “dropped”. To play at elite level you need a squad of 35 players and the ability to get game time into all of them. ( let’s not repeat RWC errors from the past). Rotatated is a much better word.