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Ireland's Tadhg Beirne. Ben Brady/INPHO

Is Tadhg Beirne a better second row or blindside flanker?

The 33-year-old Munster man has been playing a number six recently.

FOUR OF TADHG Beirne’s last five starts for Ireland have come at blindside flanker.

Prior to that, he had spent pretty much three full seasons starting for Ireland in the second row.

The recent trend started with the second Test of last summer’s tour of South Africa. Ireland had been outmuscled in the first Test and Andy Farrell responded by bringing James Ryan into the second row, with Beirne shifting to number six. A powerful Irish pack drove Farrell’s side to their second-ever win against the Springboks on South African soil.

Beirne has been on the blindside for the big games since, only reverting to the second row for the win over Fiji in November.

Ireland have had strong options in the back five of their scrum to consider for this Saturday’s Six Nations opener against England and the selection they announce at midday tomorrow will be intriguing.

Jack Conan is back in the mix after missing Ireland’s last two campaigns and his strong form, including obvious improvements in the lineout, means he’ll have been firmly in consideration for a start in the number six shirt, with Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris sure to be in the back row.

That could mean Beirne going into the second row again, although that would also mean leaving one of Ryan or Joe McCarthy out of the starting XV. 

Regardless of which way Ireland go, they will be getting serious punch off their bench. 

But Simon Easterby and co. will have spent lots of time considering how to get the very best out of Beirne, who is one of the leading players in the world on his day. There is still a suspicion that the second row roles with Ireland suit him best.

Ireland’s locks operate between the 15-metre lines, taking up roles in their pods of three forwards that play close to the ruck. Beirne is excellent in this area, challenging the line with his square running, disguised tip-on passes, and late sweep passes out the back.

tadhg-beirne-looks-on-as-jake-gordon-kicks Beirne in action for Ireland in November. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

He is also a menace at the defensive breakdown when he’s close to those more congested battles. Ireland’s blindside flanker generally operates further out near the edge both in attack and defence.

“In general play, there is a bit of a difference there for sure,” said Beirne of the differences between playing in the second row and at blindside flanker.

“I probably find myself out in the wider channels a lot more at six than I would in the second row. That’s probably the biggest difference.

“Probably defensively, you end up a little wider than you would in the second row so there is just a bit of a difference there where you end up on the field.”

He feels he gets more touches of the ball when he’s playing as a lock for Ireland.

“I would say probably second row if I’m being honest, I think, but that’s probably because I’m not used to play six,” said Beirne.

“I just find myself in a position to probably get my hands on the ball a little bit more, but if you’ve someone else playing six, they might be more clever in terms of how to get their hands on the ball and have more of an influence.

“But it’s not a position I’ve been playing long enough in our system to figure out that stuff and it depends on the game as well. Sometimes, I think back to the year of the [2021] Lions, I was playing quite a bit of six and I got my hands in the ball quite a lot back then.

“It was just the way the games were flowing, you know. It’s kind of hit and miss really, sometimes you do get your hands on the ball playing six, sometimes you don’t.”

tadhg-beirne Beirne at Ireland's training camp in Portugal. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

Not that Beirne just wants to be on the ball all the time.

“You can influence a game without touching the ball for an entire game,” he said.

“Some people may not see what you’ve done in that game but I think when we sit in here as a squad and as a team and we’re reviewing a game, a lot of time it’s the players without the ball who’ve made the biggest influence in terms of us scoring tries.

“So they’re the players that are getting the pats on the back in here, not to players who were touching down for tries, so it’s not really about getting your hands on the ball, it’s being be selfless as well, putting the team first and making sure you’re doing those things off the ball to put your team-mates in the best position to be scoring tries elsewhere.”

Beirne is certainly a player who does that. He produces lots of glamorous moments, especially at the defensive breakdown, but he also influences games in more subtle ways.

One of his biggest jobs is calling the Irish lineout, where they are keen to make big improvements in this Six Nations.

Beirne expects an intense challenge from Maro Itoje and England.

“Watching their autumn international games, [you can see] how often they change their defensive shape,” said Beirne.

“They drop someone out of line and bring someone in late, so they are constantly changing pictures and it obviously makes coming up with a lineout menu a little bit difficult.

“You don’t know what they are going to try on you, so they are a tough team to play against in terms of set pieces.”

England will be saying much the same about Beirne at the set piece and around the pitch.

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    Mute Paddy
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    Oct 28th 2019, 9:01 PM

    Thanks be to jasus for that.

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    Mute Limón Madrugada
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    Oct 28th 2019, 9:36 PM

    @Paddy: i had a double take at that headline that’s for sure .

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    Mute Marcus Massey
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    Oct 28th 2019, 9:40 PM

    The fact that this was even a possibility is quite scary. Whatever about the nonsense of the sanctioning body, has Benn not got family that might have interjected? Benn was one of my favourite fighters of the 90s when the 12 stone division in Ireland and the UK was at its best. This would have been beyond what would have been considered dangerous by anyone.

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    Mute Gabriel Holmes
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    Oct 28th 2019, 11:26 PM

    @Marcus Massey: Ever heard of Rocky

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    Mute Kingshu
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    Oct 28th 2019, 11:28 PM

    @Gabriel Holmes: Bernand Hopkins was fighting untill he was 51

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    Mute David O Callaghan
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    Oct 29th 2019, 12:07 AM

    @Gabriel Holmes: Yeah…but listen to how Rocky speaks. The brain is basically a microwaved cabbage. (addendum- I’ve never actually tried to microwave a cabbage.)

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    Mute Marcus Massey
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    Oct 29th 2019, 5:56 AM

    @Kingshu: He was and was a shadow of his former self. And, he didn’t have a 20+ year break. And he was constantly monitored while fighting.

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