52 minutes of finely honed forward play from the Munster lock.
Tadhg Beirne made an impact off the bench for Munster last weekend but the result in Glasgow was chastening. On Friday, in Cork, the province took out their frustrations on a weakened Ospreys side and were 42-6 up after 47 minutes.
As Joey Carbery popped over another conversion, after Arno Botha’s try, Beirne was already back in his own half and getting set for the restart. He was ready to go wire to wire on this one.
While much of the focus, before and during Munster’s win, was on Carbery’s first start in the 10 jersey, the performances of Beirne, Peter O’Mahony and Chris Cloete were even more impressive. Cloete, back from a long-term injury, was uncorked focus and aggression while O’Mahony was on top form until his gas tank ran shallow mid-way through the second half.
As for Beirne, he was excellent and he was Cloete’s closest rival for that shiny man of the match medal. His match stats were mightily impressive:
- 12 carries (34 metres gained)
- 2 line breaks
- 2 defenders beaten
- 3 offloads
- 3 successful tackles (0 missed)
- 2 turnovers
- 1 lineout steal
That lineout steal came in the middle of an immense 10-minute period from the former Leinster and Scarlets lock. Munster had just conceded a penalty and Ospreys, seeking an attacking platform just outside the 22, kicked for touch.
Scott Baldwin sought to find his jumper at the back of the line but Beirne, with help from O’Mahony and Rhys Marshall, sprang up and Munster had the ball back.
Ospreys never got it back again until James Cronin had dotted down at the base of the posts. Carbery converted and Josh Lewis sized up his restart options.
Cronin provided the one-man lift and Beirne claimed the kick cleanly with one thought on his mind – attack. He shrugged off one tackle, drew in another two men and offloaded for Sam Arnold, who found Andrew Conway in support. Munster were piling forward again.
Credit: eir SportOspreys dug in and were looking to get a score of any denomination before half-time. 21-6 down, a penalty or try before the break and they would still be in this game.
Beirne had other ideas. Ospreys claimed a lineout and attempted to rumble a maul into the Munster half and toward their 10-metre line.
The Munster No.4 dipped in, wrestled the ball free and, again, his first thoughts were to steam forward. Another break and another offload, this time finding Duncan Williams on his left shoulder.
Credit: eir SportThose three moments were mere highlights of an excellent first 40 minutes. Munster head coach Johann van Graan was originally thinking of going easy on Beirne but was so impressed with his first-half performance that he approached him in the dressing room at the break. He told eir Sport:
“I asked Tadhg in the dressing room, at half-time if he could do 80 minutes and he said, ‘Yes’.
“But I changed my mind around 50. He’s such an important player and it is such a long season ahead. I thought he was close to man of the match, from what I saw.”
Beirne is a true ironman and he comfortably covered jerseys 4 to 8 for Scarlets last season. His confidence at going full tilt for 80 minutes, so early in the season, is encouraging but van Graan made the right call.
"The reaction from the crowd (to the Carbery try) was the best"
Johann van Graan joined our panel after the game to look back on his side's impressive win. #GuinnessPRO14 #MUNvOSP pic.twitter.com/k2mMh5ctGz
— eir Sport (@eirSport) September 14, 2018
Munster were not far off silverware last season. If they can get the most out of Beirne, Cloete, Marshall & Co., they will fancy their chances, and so will their fans.
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