Ciarán Kennedy Reports from Quinta do Lago

TADHG BEIRNE IS in a relaxed mood and he takes a seat outside the café at Ireland’s Quinta do Lago training base in Portugal.

It’s been a busy, challenging couple of months for Beirne with Munster but joining up with the Ireland squad again offers an opportunity to switch focus to a different type of challenge.

Andy Farrell’s side head to Marseille this morning ahead of their Six Nations opening night clash with France on Friday, and the message from camp is the squad are framing it as an ideal opportunity to kick back into gear after the disappointment of last year’s World Cup. 

That Friday’s game is being played at Marseille’s striking Stadé Velodrome adds a different feel to the week and Ireland’s chances of starting a new campaign with a statement win are boosted by the fact the hosts are missing a number of key players – including Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, Anthony Jelonch, Thibaud Flament and Emmanuel Meafou.

“It’s not that it’s easier but it makes it exciting, doesn’t it, the unknown,” Beirne says.

Ireland have been training in Portugal ahead of their Six Nations opener. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

“The Marseille stadium is a pretty exciting game to look forward to. The atmosphere is supposed to be incredible and it goes up a notch from Stade de France, so very much looking forward to being part of it if selected. I think the unfamiliarity brings a lot of excitement.”

After sitting through a review of the World Cup last week, the players have enjoyed their time back together in camp, with the week in Portugal allowing for some down time on the beach in between sessions at The Campus training facility – where yesterday was the main training day of the week.

Beirne himself has been kept on his toes given Joe McCarthy’s recent run of form, with the Leinster lock pushing hard to feature on Friday. McCarthy’s rise could even see Beirne relocated to the back row – the Munster man started all five of Ireland’s games at the World Cup, lining out at 6 for the opening pool fixture against Romania before shifting to the second row for the next four games.

It’s almost six years since Beirne won his first caps off the bench against Australia in 2018, with the 46-cap veteran now a key part of Farrell’s squad. 

Beirne’s versatility is a notable bonus in a competitive squad, but both Farrell and Joe Schmidt before him have primarily use the Kildare native in the second row. Of his 36 starts for Ireland, only six have come in the back row, with the Romania game last year his first Test start at blindside since the 2021 Six Nations.

“On my journey I’ve had to work my way into the squad like a lot of lads and I think what Faz has done with the group has been incredible. Everyone loves being here and the way we play, he’s certainly made me a much better player.

I’ve had to work hard to get into that position where I’ve been playing the last couple of years.

“Whether I’m still playing in this Six Nations has yet to be determined. All you can do is keep your head down and keep working, keep working to improve and that’s obviously been my goal the whole time I come into these camps, to keep improving and keep working on getting better because every game you look back on and there’s certainly a lot of areas to keep getting better at for sure.”

Beirne admits he initially struggled to park the World Cup pain, but feels that weight has shifted and his form has improved in the build-up to the Six Nations.

“I think my form has gotten a little bit better as the weeks have gone on, but I think there’s a bit of a lull after the World Cup too, to try and bounce back from, going back into a new environment again from being with the Irish camp for so long, and there’s an adjustment there from a different way of playing in some ways.

“It probably took me a few weeks to get used to that as well and obviously a lot of injuries (at Munster) and things weren’t going particularly well for us at times so there was a lot of frustration as well within the group.”

Since returning from the World Cup the 32-year-old has also taken on the Munster captaincy on a part-time basis following Peter O’Mahony’s shock decision to step down as skipper.

Beirne with Peter O'Mahony during an Ireland training session in Portugal. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

O’Mahony has since been named Ireland captain and will lead Farrell’s squad through this Six Nations, and Beirne says his Munster teammate’s leadership qualities go far beyond what we see on the pitch.

“I think it was one thing before I even came to Munster, Pete was always on of those characters, as is he is to a lot of people who see from the outside in and you presume he’d be a good leader.

But it’s not until you’re in a room with him when he starts speaking or he feels the need to speak that you listen to every word he says.

“You’re certainly ready to go out into battle, right behind him, when he goes out onto the field so natural born leader would certainly be a way I’d put it for sure.

“He’s always been a leader within here so not much changes other than he has the captaincy role in terms of the ‘C’ beside his name on the team sheet. He still does exactly what he’s doing.

“Johnny [Sexton] did a few things in terms of he’d like to approach a games in terms of meetings and stuff. Whether Pete wants to do those things, that’s up to him but I don’t think much will change in terms of  him speaking or him leading because he’s always done it in here and always been an incredible leader with Ireland and within Munster.”

O’Mahony will be fully tuned in come gameday in Marseille but Beirne adds that there’s a lighter side to the Corkman, too.

“He puts some fear into some people all right. When you know him a bit better you can laugh about that side of him too.”