'We didn't have a lot of money' - Pivac admits Scarlets nearly didn't sign 'languishing' Tadhg Beirne
Wayne Pivac has admitted that the Scarlets nearly didn’t sign forward Tadhg Beirne, who has gone from being a Leinster cast-off to becoming one of the most outstanding forwards in European Rugby this season.
Beirne has had a seminal season with the Welsh Region, having just two years after effectively being left on rugby’s scrapheap.
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Reflecting on Beirne’s contribution to the Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac said; “He’s been fantastic. For a player that was sitting there languishing, looking like he didn’t have a contract, and he was the last position for us to do.
“We didn’t have a lot of money and had a good look around to see what was available. We did a bit of research and we took Tadhg on board. He’s repaid us tenfold, he’s been superb!”
“He’s played second row, 6, 8, he’d even play on the wing if you wanted him to. He’s a great team man. He’s great off the field and works very hard at his game. He’s contributed really well.
“He’s been superb, I can’t say enough about him. He’s done very well.”
Beirne has enjoyed a remarkable week.
On Friday night the Dublin born loose forward featured in Scarlets’ emphatic Guinness PRO14 semi-final victory over Glasgow Warriors to make their way to a second consecutive final, Saturday night he was named Fans’ Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season as well as receiving the award for Try of the Season at the region’s end of season celebrations.
Monday saw his try against Bath in round 5 of the European Rugby Champions Cup campaign shortlisted for try of the season by EPCR.
Wednesday saw his long-awaited call-up to the Ireland squad; he will tour with Joe Schmidt’s 32-man squad to Australia this summer.
The week, and his tenure at Scarlets, will draw to a climatic finish on Saturday evening as he lines up against his former side Leinster in the Guinness PRO14 final at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
1⃣4⃣ – Tadhg Beirne won 14 turnovers in total in the @ChampionsCup pool stage, three more than any other player, while he also missed just one of 75 attempted tackles. Machine. pic.twitter.com/0EiRv9hdGA
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) January 24, 2018
Comments on RugbyPass
Just came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to comments