TADHG TWO-TIME

The Munster star returns to the British & Irish Lions for a second tour that will be very different to his first experience four years ago...

- PAT McCARRY

IN THE day he was named as the Lions captain, Maro Itoje referred to how rare and wonder-making that touring squad can be. “There’s only three of us - myself, Elliot, Tadhg - from the last real tour.”

Itoje, Elliot Daly and Tadhg Furlong, along with Finn Russell, drafted in briefly in 2017, were the only three-time Lions announced in the initial squad for Australia.

Thirteen players from the 2021 tour to South Africa were named in Andy Farrell's 38-man group. Due to COVID-19 restrictions during that tour, players were largely confined to hotel rooms and the team room when not training and competing. Tadhg Beirne is now a two-time Lion but eager to take in what a full-blown Lions tour has to offer.

“Whether it is going out with team-mates for coffee or to see the sights, that is a big part of touring,” he says. The Munster forward recalls plenty of hours on his own in hotel rooms, but notes how much tougher it was for players, in the final two weeks of the 2021 tour, not involved in the Test matches.

“For the final weeks, we were out at the Arabella (Country Estate), miles from Cape Town and with no hope of ever seeing anyone.

“I can’t fault the Lions because they tried their hardest to make it as enjoyable as possible, considering the hard circumstances and us having to get (Covid) tested every day. It was a bizarre situation.

“Being involved was a massive honour, though. If you offered me the chance to do it again during Covid, I certainly would. The group was really tight, too, and brought closer by that shared experience. Now, you look back more on the fonder times and not those tough moments when you felt so isolated.