EVERYONE IN IRELAND camp was happy for Finlay Bealham, of course.

The tighthead prop was cleared of injury in the days after their win over England, a happy outcome when it had looked like a bad one at the time.

Bealham’s leg got trapped under an English tackler and he went down with a roar that meant the referee immediately stopped the game. 

So it was a big relief when the Connacht man was given the all-clear to return to full training and prepare for the clash with Scotland last weekend.

However, the slagging started quickly, as tends to be the case among sports teams.

“The lads are calling me Lazarus,” says Bealham.

“I was getting a bit of a slagging but I’d happily enough take the slagging so I’d be here and able to play.

“I broke my ankle five years ago and I think all the hardware in there saved me from any significant damage so I took the slagging, more attention for me which is brilliant and I cracked on.”

Bealham has been back to his best for Ireland in the last two weekends after an autumn campaign he wasn’t happy with, particularly the final game against Australia.

“I definitely didn’t have my best day at the office,” says Bealham of that Wallabies game.

“I got in my own way and made some mistakes. I obviously don’t want to make mistakes but I made a lot of mistakes. I suppose coming into this campaign, I knew Tadhg [Furlong] was out, but it was another big opportunity for me and I tried to take the pressure off myself and really trust what I’d done and all the work we’d done as a team.

“And coming into the games now I feel really good, I feel really fresh. I’m just going to stay out of my own way.”

So far in this Six Nations, Bealham has made 20 tackles and missed just one. Lots of those tackles have been meaty hits that stopped ball carriers dead in their tracks.

Bealham is in fine form. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Bealham has been nailing his set-piece work, while he had a breakdown turnover penalty win against the Scots.

The tighthead has also been busy at the attacking ruck, second only to Josh van der Flier in terms of ruck arrivals. Bealham has been accurate with his clearouts.

“I don’t think I put my best foot forward in the Autumn Series but such is life and I reflected on that, tried to move on and leave that there and take the learnings from it,” says Bealham.

“Like anything, you just roll with the punches and move on.” 

The Irish scrum had a very good outing against Scotland last weekend and given that scrummaging is his bread and butter, Bealham was happy.

“I think in November we built a really good platform in terms of our scrum working with the likes of Ró [Kelleher] and Ports, and having Sheeno back now and the back five have been unbelievable.

“I suppose we sat down during the week and were analysing our scrums and looking forward, you have ‘Big Cheese’ James Ryan coming in and asking what more he can do and what I thought of him. We’re all trying to evolve that part of our game as much as we can.

“Look, it’s an area which is a strength for us at the minute and we’ll look to keep it that way.”

Related Reads

Ireland's in-form locks have been central to strong Six Nations start

'I got a fairly savage boo. It's one of the biggest compliments of my career'

Furlong will possibly be back for Ireland’s next game against Wales in two weekends but Bealham is sure to continue having an important role for Simon Easterby’s side as they look to keep their momentum rolling in Cardiff.

“It’s another away game in a really prestigious stadium,” says Bealham.

“I think it’s Wales’ first game at home as well so they’ll be well up for it, backs against the wall and I’ve no doubt they’ll be coming out firing so we’ll go in with the utmost respect and do our thing.”