ANY TRY IN Twickenham is special but it all meant a little bit more for Finlay Bealham as he sealed Ireland’s 32-15 bonus-point win in Twickenham.
When the final whistle went, the 30-year-old made a beeline for the stand and shared a special moment with his parents, who had flown in from his native Australia for the game.
The pandemic was tough on everyone but not getting his see his family for a long time made it all the more so for Connacht prop Bealham.
As his team-mates celebrated their record win in Twickenham, Bealham celebrated being reunited with his folks.
“I had my parents there who I hadn’t seen for the last two-and-a-half years with Covid,” explained Bealham.
“It was a really special day for the team and for me personally as well.
“I got to meet them after the game in the crowd and it was a really emotional moment for us, that I hadn’t seen them in the last two-and-a-half years. It was really special for me.
“It’s a day that my family won’t forget.”
With Tadhg Furlong putting in another big shift for Ireland at tighthead, Bealham played the closing six minutes of Ireland’s win and was part of an impactful bench performance.
The likes of Rob Herring, Jack Conan, and Conor Murray helped to steer Ireland home after they had been given a fright when England drew the game back to 15-15 with just under 20 minutes remaining.
While there were obvious poor elements to the Irish performance, they fly home to Dublin tonight delighted with the outcome. Head coach Andy Farrell was a happy man and Bealham was pleased to get on the scoresheet.
“He [Farrell] was really proud of the performance,” said Bealham. “It was backs-to-the-wall stuff but we stayed in the game really well.
“It was brilliant to get one and unreal to score thanks to James Lowe’s carry. It was a lovely team try.”
While Ireland are still in the Six Nations mix ahead of next weekend’s Super Saturday, France are favourites to seal a Grand Slam against England in Paris.
Ireland will have an outside hope of an upset there but they are definitely on for a Triple Crown if they can beat Scotland in Dublin next weekend.
“It’s massive,” said Bealham. “It puts us in a strong position.”
