PUT YOURSELF IN Wales’ shoes for a second. Tadhg Furlong isn’t fit to play against them this Saturday in Cardiff. News of his ongoing calf trouble will have come as music to the Welsh ears.
Furlong is one of the best tighthead props in the game when he’s fit and firing. So there’s only one way Warren Gatland will be spinning confirmation that the Wexford man is out. He’ll be telling his team that this is another reason they can upset Ireland in their Six Nations opener.
And yet, Ireland have real faith in the man called upon to replace Furlong.
Finlay Bealham is 31 now but Saturday will be his first-ever Six Nations start and just his fifth Test start overall for Ireland. One of his previous four starts came at loosehead prop, the other three at tighthead. Canada, the US, Georgia, and Japan were the opponents.
So it’s fair to say that this weekend is a huge one for Bealham. His most recent form for Ireland has been strong, including a superb 40-minute stint against the Springboks last autumn when Furlong was forced off injured. It’s often argued that tightheads play their best rugby in their 30s and Bealham looks like a case in point.
His journey to reach this point has been unique. A native of Canberra who grew up playing plenty of rugby league, Bealham was capped by Australia Schools back in 2009 but then missed out on Aussie U20s selection.
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He has a genuine connection to Ireland through his Enniskillen-born granny and had travelled to County Fermanagh with his family for several childhood holidays. So Bealham stuck together some video clips and sent them to then-Ireland U20s coach Mike Ruddock.
Bealham playing for the Ireland U20s back in 2011. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Ruddock, who is now back in Welsh rugby working with the Ospreys, was interested and so Bealham moved over to Ireland, initially spending six months with the Ulster sub-academy and playing for Belfast Harlequins. Bealham featured for the Irish U20s in 2011 alongside Furlong and Iain Henderson.
It’s worth remembering that Bealham was a loosehead prop at that stage. He came up through the ranks on the left side of the front row and only switched to tighthead after his move to join Connacht’s academy, having got a fateful call from Nigel Carolan asking him to move to Galway.
Initially, it was hard for Bealham. He was very far from his family at the age of just 19. In his first winter with Connacht, the house he shared with then-fellow teenager Kieran Marmion had no heating. But he was determined to make it and stayed the course.
Things are different these days, with Bealham marrying his long-term partner, Sarah, last summer. He is a true local in Connacht now.
It was current Ulster boss Dan McFarland, then the Connacht forwards coach, who moved Bealham across to tighthead. Consuming huge amounts of food and adding in extra gym sessions every week, he piled on more than 10kgs weight in order to cope with the demands on the other side of the scrum. He plays at close to 120kg these days.
The switch has been a big success for Bealham, who started Connacht’s Pro12 final win over Leinster in 2016 and has racked up 185 appearances for the province in total. There have been ups and downs throughout the journey, including injuries – one of which involved Bealham being able to see inside his own hand. Connacht’s fans love him and have always felt he should be more appreciated in the Ireland setting too.
Bealham after Ireland beat the All Blacks in Chicago in 2016. INPHO / Billy Stickland
INPHO / Billy Stickland / Billy Stickland
It was Joe Schmidt who first capped Bealham at Test level and it actually came on the loosehead side against Italy in the 2016 Six Nations, Bealham switching across after an injury to Cian Healy.
He has been used at tighthead for the vast majority of his 27 caps, aside from a brief return to loosehead in 2020 when he came off the bench there against England and then started at number one versus Georgia, a game that didn’t go well for him or for Ireland.
His body of work at tighthead has grown over the years and includes five replacement appearances against the All Blacks, four of them in Ireland wins. And that outing against the Springboks last November was of the highest quality.
Bealham has credited Furlong with pushing his game to the next level. The pair of them often spend an hour together in the evenings when Ireland are in camp, going through footage of their training and discussing scrums.
Bealham recently spoke about how he doesn’t see himself as a back-up player. This weekend is the time to prove it.
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A long way from Canberra: Bealham gets big chance to shine
PUT YOURSELF IN Wales’ shoes for a second. Tadhg Furlong isn’t fit to play against them this Saturday in Cardiff. News of his ongoing calf trouble will have come as music to the Welsh ears.
Furlong is one of the best tighthead props in the game when he’s fit and firing. So there’s only one way Warren Gatland will be spinning confirmation that the Wexford man is out. He’ll be telling his team that this is another reason they can upset Ireland in their Six Nations opener.
And yet, Ireland have real faith in the man called upon to replace Furlong.
Finlay Bealham is 31 now but Saturday will be his first-ever Six Nations start and just his fifth Test start overall for Ireland. One of his previous four starts came at loosehead prop, the other three at tighthead. Canada, the US, Georgia, and Japan were the opponents.
So it’s fair to say that this weekend is a huge one for Bealham. His most recent form for Ireland has been strong, including a superb 40-minute stint against the Springboks last autumn when Furlong was forced off injured. It’s often argued that tightheads play their best rugby in their 30s and Bealham looks like a case in point.
His journey to reach this point has been unique. A native of Canberra who grew up playing plenty of rugby league, Bealham was capped by Australia Schools back in 2009 but then missed out on Aussie U20s selection.
He has a genuine connection to Ireland through his Enniskillen-born granny and had travelled to County Fermanagh with his family for several childhood holidays. So Bealham stuck together some video clips and sent them to then-Ireland U20s coach Mike Ruddock.
Ruddock, who is now back in Welsh rugby working with the Ospreys, was interested and so Bealham moved over to Ireland, initially spending six months with the Ulster sub-academy and playing for Belfast Harlequins. Bealham featured for the Irish U20s in 2011 alongside Furlong and Iain Henderson.
It’s worth remembering that Bealham was a loosehead prop at that stage. He came up through the ranks on the left side of the front row and only switched to tighthead after his move to join Connacht’s academy, having got a fateful call from Nigel Carolan asking him to move to Galway.
Initially, it was hard for Bealham. He was very far from his family at the age of just 19. In his first winter with Connacht, the house he shared with then-fellow teenager Kieran Marmion had no heating. But he was determined to make it and stayed the course.
Things are different these days, with Bealham marrying his long-term partner, Sarah, last summer. He is a true local in Connacht now.
It was current Ulster boss Dan McFarland, then the Connacht forwards coach, who moved Bealham across to tighthead. Consuming huge amounts of food and adding in extra gym sessions every week, he piled on more than 10kgs weight in order to cope with the demands on the other side of the scrum. He plays at close to 120kg these days.
The switch has been a big success for Bealham, who started Connacht’s Pro12 final win over Leinster in 2016 and has racked up 185 appearances for the province in total. There have been ups and downs throughout the journey, including injuries – one of which involved Bealham being able to see inside his own hand. Connacht’s fans love him and have always felt he should be more appreciated in the Ireland setting too.
It was Joe Schmidt who first capped Bealham at Test level and it actually came on the loosehead side against Italy in the 2016 Six Nations, Bealham switching across after an injury to Cian Healy.
He has been used at tighthead for the vast majority of his 27 caps, aside from a brief return to loosehead in 2020 when he came off the bench there against England and then started at number one versus Georgia, a game that didn’t go well for him or for Ireland.
His body of work at tighthead has grown over the years and includes five replacement appearances against the All Blacks, four of them in Ireland wins. And that outing against the Springboks last November was of the highest quality.
Bealham has credited Furlong with pushing his game to the next level. The pair of them often spend an hour together in the evenings when Ireland are in camp, going through footage of their training and discussing scrums.
Bealham recently spoke about how he doesn’t see himself as a back-up player. This weekend is the time to prove it.
Get instant updates on your province on The42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
finlay bealham Ireland Team news Tighthead Time to shine Wales