Teams of the week are impossible to 100% nail down and there will always be a controversial call or two. That, in a way, is the beauty of them, aside from the reward for players after an impressive performance.
While ESPN included Tadhg Furlong in their XV of the week, after the Champions Cup’s third round of pool games, Midi Olympique went for Munster’s Stephen Archer. A win-win for Irish tight-heads but, for our money, Furlong was untouchable.
The Leinster prop is enjoying one of those years where he has settled into his role within the team and is comfortable with where he is as a player. If 2015 was the ascent and 2016 was the rollercoaster, 2017 has been rocket-ship glide above the stratosphere. He has found his level and it his higher, and better, than most.
Furlong has been a model of brilliant consistency for Leinster and Ireland. Each challenge he has faced, he has met head on. More often than not, he has come out on top. Teams often opt to occupy him, nullify him, rather than targeting him as a weak point. They’d rather go after the likes of Cian Healy or Jack McGrath now and that doesn’t always end well.
Selected for his first ever British & Irish Lions tour, Furlong quickly established himself as the starting tight-head for big games. Rory Best said Furlong was the one player he wanted to be selected aside in training drills and for matches as he knew he would be starting in the Test Series. So it proved and so Furlong excelled again.
Like Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray now, we now expect Furlong to deliver in each game he plays. World-class players must cope with such burdens. And Furlong invariably delivers – 10+ tackles, 10+ carries, a scrum penalty or two, a turnover, rucks cleared out with intent, a turnover, maybe even an offload or two. In the win over South Africa, Furlong was often used in set-plays that linked in the backline and result in tries. His handling skills are superb.
On Sunday, at Sandy Park, Furlong was at it again.
Jonathan Sexton and Tadhg Furlong launching into a counter-ruck yesterday, one phase before Exeter's big pick-and-go series fizzled out. Both were immense. pic.twitter.com/cSLk42rNPU
— Charlie Morgan (@CharlieFelix) December 11, 2017
Once the dust settled and the stats were tallied, Furlong had made 16 carries, beat three defenders with ball in hand, tossed out an offload, landed his fair share of tackles [missing none] and was excellent in the scrum. He didn’t have it all his own way but once the squeeze was on, he was instrumental in Harry Williams being sin-binned.
How ruddy good is @tadhgfurlong !? Absolute beast, carrying like a centre and scrummaging like a mad man! #ChampionsCup
— Scott Watson (@swatson1982) December 10, 2017
BT trying to use 'the Bull' moniker for Tadhg Furlong .. no lads … no #EXEvLEI
— Sarah Lennon (@sarahlennon08) December 10, 2017
Maybe BT’s David Flatman did not get the memo that it’s Tadhg ‘The Jukebox’ Furlong, self christened. The hits keep coming.
Leinster will need another big shift from Furlong at the weekend but that is exactly what they will get. After that, he will be used once over the festive period – the choice is Munster away or Ulster at home – before launching into the Champions Cup pool games again and the Six Nations.
There may not be much time, in the middle of all that, for contract negotiations but Furlong will hope his representatives get him a fair deal.
The likes of Ronan O’Gara, James Downey and Luke Fitzgerald have all remarked that he is the IRFU’s priority signing. While we have seen the names of CJ Stander, Peter O’Mahony and Iain Henderson all featuring in contract negotiations narratives, in the media. There has been next to nothing about Furlong.
Furlong is going about things in the same way now that he did when he was first breaking through – with quiet determination, a sense of his own worth and the minimum of fuss.
Leinster don’t often announce their contract deals until February or March of each season. Garry Ringrose is said to have signed up with the province but there has been no official confirmation from Leinster officials.
We have received no indications, thus far, that a Furlong deal has been reached. Even if it is, expect it to come out with little fanfare. The Jukebox is playing this tune his own unique way.
