'I was changed, bag ready, about to walk out... and I got the phone call'
Tadhg Beirne admits being forced to self-isolate created a mental challenge as the British and Irish Lions emerged undeterred from one of the most chaotic weeks in their history.
Beirne was among the large group of personnel who were forced to quarantine in the rooms of their Johannesburg hotel on Wednesday following two positive tests for coronavirus.
Forty-eight hours later the close contacts of the player who subsequently produced two negative results were able to rejoin the rest of the touring party.
Beirne had been named on the bench for Wednesday’s victory over the Sharks but had to withdraw upon being told he was among the positive case’s close contacts as the Lions made extensive revisions to the 23.
“Everyone is in the same boat and I would say everyone is finding it difficult at times,” said the Ireland flanker, who returned at six for the 71-31 win in the repeat fixture.
“There’s always going to be a mental challenge. Everyone’s away from their families, we don’t leave the hotel grounds, we don’t see anyone other than ourselves, so they are the challenges everyone has to face.
“But at the same time, we have to be very grateful that we’re able to be here, that we’re in this position.
“We’re very lucky this is going ahead, so it’s easy to overcome those mental challenges when they do pop into your head.”
The Lions faced the greatest upheaval on Wednesday when players picked in the reassembled 23 left their hotel rooms two hours before kick off and scrambled to Emirates Airline Park where they completed a brief warm-up before taking on the Sharks.
Fresh obstacles were presented on Saturday as Maro Itoje and Finn Russell were forced to withdraw through illness and injury respectively shortly before kick-off.
And Beirne, who crossed twice in an outstanding display, admits the players’ over-enthusiasm at leaving the isolation shaped their disappointing start.
“Everything was up in the air. I was changed, bag ready to go, about to walk out the door to get on the bus and I got the phone call saying that I would have to isolate in the room,” Beirne said.
“It was disappointing but it’s the circumstances around at the moment. You have to take it on the chin and thankfully the lads pulled together and managed to put in a serious performance on Wednesday.
“I had to watch it from the room but very much enjoyed the lads going out there and putting in a serious shift.
“It wasn’t actually until Friday that we got out, I think we needed two negatives on the Thursday and the Friday, so we were isolating until the Friday afternoon. We had a pretty late extended captain’s run on the Friday.
“It was quite up in the air until then and when we got the news, we were all delighted to finally get out of the rooms and we were raring to go.
“You could see that in our captain’s run, lads were probably getting a bit too excited after getting out of isolation for a few days in their rooms.
“It probably didn’t go into the game too well. We didn’t start the way we wanted to but we managed to finish well and that was the main thing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments