‘Cream rises to the top’ – Wales’ helping hand in making of Beirne

Guinness Men’s Six Nations: Wales v Ireland

Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 22 February Kick-off: 14: 15 GMT

Eight years later, Welsh rugby must now be regarded as one of the most inappropriately timed holidays.

Midway through the 2016-17 campaign, with Tadhg Beirne in his first season after leaving Leinster for Scarlets, the Irishman had broken into Wayne Pivac’s side and sought the reward of a new contract in Llanelli.

The Kildare native had signed on for relatively meager terms and, having impressed early on, was willing to commit for two more seasons if there had been an offer for an early pay raise. He had only played senior rugby for 39 minutes.

After finalizing his most recent contract with the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), which runs through 2027, Beirne said, “I was very close to signing on with Scarlets.”

“At the time, January at the end of first year, the guy that looked after the contracts, he was away skiing so wasn’t replying to my agent’s emails”.

In Saturday’s Six Nations game at Parc Y Scarlets, Beirne is likely to have played for Wales rather than Ireland in accordance with the three-year residency rule in the Test rugby league.

Five years after taking over the Ireland Under-20s, Gwent native Mike Ruddock was in charge of Wales to win the Six Nations Grand Slam.

In his four years in the job, his sides would include the likes of Tadhg Furlong, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan, Iain Henderson and Finlay Bealham.

Furthermore, after taking up the reins at All-Ireland League outfit Lansdowne, he would nurture young talents James Ryan, Ronan Kelleher and Dan Sheehan as they made their way in the Leinster academy.

Ruddock told BBC Sport NI, “Back in Ireland, I would tease the Lansdowne lads that I put a little bit of Gwent in the Irish pack.”

“So many graduated through the under-20s, I’d tell them, ‘ that’s a Gwent pack, not an Irish one. ‘ They eventually threatened to halt my efforts if I continued to do it.

Ruddock would work with Beirne for both the under-20s and Lansdowne.

Ruddock recalled how incredible an athlete he was at first, and that is what I’m most proud of.

In those days, he didn’t have a lot of muscle mass. He was lean, he was strong, and he was brilliant over the ball. &nbsp,

However, Beirne struggled to find his own footing while a number of his peers quickly established themselves on the local and global stage.

It was another goal to build his frame, as did developing his line-out calling, and Ruddock was the person who gave Beirne the nickname “long dog” in a nod to another lean lock, former Welsh international Luke Charteris.

In truth, however, the main obstacle in his path was the sheer depth in Leinster’s forward pack. Still, he remained determined.

” The biggest thing I remember is how laidback he was, “said Ruddock.

” But once you scratched under the surface, he was hardworking.

As a result, it was incredibly disappointing to learn that there would not be a deal to be made with Leinster at the conclusion of his one-year senior season with the RDS.

If Beirne’s decision-maker took a sliding doors ski vacation, another one followed when Ruddock batted in his place.

“I was fortunate enough to coach Leo Cullen, he’s a smashing guy and a dear friend”, he said.

“Hopefully he won’t mind me betraying a small confidence, but I remember ringing&nbsp, Leo when Tadhg was told he was released and saying ‘ look, I’ve worked with this kid, for the sake of a small contract I think he’d be worth hanging on to. There’s definitely something there that’s worth persevering with’.

” In fairness, Leo was very complimentary about Tadhg but they had so many resources at the time, that the cards just hadn’t fallen his way. “

Ruddock considered opening a door at Leinster while the door was shut in Wales. After lobbying the regions, Beirne’s career trajectory was radically altered when a potential Wales head coach called a former one.

When Wayne Pivac was coaching the Scarlets, he called me at home and said, “You’ve put your name to this kid, what’s the story with him?” “recalled Ruddock.

I remember telling Wayne to “just go get him signed him now,” and I’ll let you know everything about him.

Beirne, who turned 26 in his second year at Llanelli, won what was then the Pro12 before moving back to Munster and beginning his Test career with an Ireland debut against Australia in the summer of 2018 at the age of 26.

Many fans at the Principality Stadium will wonder how close Beirne was to representing the hosts in lieu of his 59th Ireland cap, which he will take with two for the British and Irish Lions against Wales this weekend.

Ruddock, whose own son Rhys won 27 caps for Ireland, joked that perhaps all is not lost on that front.

“I’m so happy that it turned out for him. When young players are let go to look at someone like Tadhg, I frequently tell them.

” He’s been a great player and there’s loads left in the tank. I couldn’t speak highly enough of him.