IT’S NOT TOTALLY unusual for a player to be wearing a full formal suit when they sit down for a press conference, but you know something’s up when Tadhg Beirne appears in the media tent looking dapper.
Keith Earls has just walked out in the more common attire of Ireland-issue shorts and tee-shirts so Beirne is asked what the story with the suit is.
“There’s a bit of a dictatorship going on in camp at the moment,” explains Beirne. “We have three lads that call themselves the sheriffs, they’re in charge of any misdemeanours or any fines that need to be taking place within the camp.
“Unfortunately, I turned up a couple of seconds late for a meeting and they decided to fine me. I had to spin the wheel of fortune and I landed on number ones to and from training, hence the suit.”
Fair is fair, Beirne was late. Even a few seconds late is unacceptable in Ireland camp. So the three sheriffs, Dave Kilcoyne, James Ryan, and Jack Conan, were all over it.
The punishment could have been worse.
“One of the worst ones is I think there’s a silent one-minute dance which is actually probably punishment for everyone sitting in the room as well as it is for the man who has to do it,” says Beirne, who is concerned the power is going to the sheriffs’ heads, particularly Kilcoyne’s.
“The reason it’s a dictatorship is because they are claiming they’re above the law,” says Beirne. “So there could be a French Revolution yet.”
Beirne seems like the kind of fella to lead a revolt. He has become a leader on the pitch for Munster and Ireland in recent years, often changing games with his big plays at the breakdown, in the lineout, and with his skillful handling. He’s a dog of a player too.
Beirne believes he’s been improving with each appearance this season and he’s intent on going up another level this weekend against Tonga.
“I’ve been lucky enough, I played all three of the warm-up games and it definitely helped in terms of my game,” says Beirne, who played at blindside flanker last weekend against Romania but is best known as a second row.
“I probably wasn’t anywhere near where I wanted to be for the first warm-up game [against Italy] and I’ve certainly felt like I’ve been building but I still feel like I’ve a way to go to get to my best.
“I suppose I don’t really know what my best is but I’m certainly trying to improve all the time. I want to improve on last week if I do play this week.”
One of Ireland’s big aims this weekend will be to nail their lineout, which has had a few frustrating losses on their throw over the past few weeks.
As with his forwards coach Paul O’Connell, Beirne is calm about the mistakes.
“It’s definitely not a concern for us,” says the 31-year-old. “The Samoa game, the weather was particularly bad. Unless you were there, you probably didn’t see how hard it was.
“Defensively, we’ve been really good in the lineout. We have probably just made a few unforced errors that are unlike us in terms of the lineout. To me, they’re probably easy fixes and hopefully you’ll be able to see those improvements this weekend.”
Ireland are expecting a fiercer challenge on Saturday in Nantes than was the case against Romania last time out.
The Tongans are ranked 15th in the world and are certainly big underdogs this weekend, but Beirne says they won’t be taken lightly. After a close call against Samoa in the warm-up games, Ireland are on high alert.
“Looking at that Samoa game, we were quite off it we felt. A lot of mistakes, we were disappointed with how our set-piece went. Tonga are probably going to look at those areas and come after us in those areas, so we’re certainly going to have to improve massively on those.
“On the weekend just gone [against Romania], we’re probably still not happy with where we were there, and particularly lineout. So, we’re putting pressure on ourselves to improve that area for sure and it’s another massive test for us.”