BATTLE HARDENED

The warrior heart beats loud in FINLAY BEALHAM and the charismatic Ireland prop is hoping for his greatest adventure yet at the Rugby World Cup

- TOM ENGLISH

HIS OBSESSION with Vikings started in Covid times, when he and his Galway-born wife Sarah – “the lads always say I’m punching above my weight but I beg to differ, I think I bring a lot to the table” – were flicking around for something to watch on television and happened upon the tales of the Norsemen of medieval Scandinavia. Whatever can be said about pharmacist Sarah’s views on it all, Finlay Bealham was hooked.

And he wasn’t the only one. There are three of them in this. Bealham, the Connacht and Ireland tighthead, is Ragnar Lothbok, a feared warrior, ruthless and curious. James Ryan is Björn Ironside (son of Ragnar/Bealham, which is a bit trippy, but let’s go with it…) and, drawing the short straw, Andrew Porter is Ivar the Boneless, born with a defect that has rendered his legs useless, a sadist and narcissist on the outside but also desperately insecure underneath it all.

That’s quite a trio. “It started when we were in Covid and I had a shaved head, which is a bit of a different look to the one I have now,” says Bealham, who started the first three games of Ireland’s Grand Slam campaign before injury took him out of the final weeks.

“My wife and I were looking for a TV show and we found Vikings and it was really enjoyable. I said, ‘I’m going to grow my hair long like Ragnar’ and now I have the long hair and the braids on match days. I get it done on the Wednesday, like I’m charging into battle getting ready to go to Valhalla.”