Four into two won’t go.
With respect to Grand Slam winner Quinn Roux, four of the five locks selected to tour Australia with Ireland will be travelling Down Under with realistic aims of starting the First Test.
James Ryan and Iain Henderson finished a dominant Six Nations campaign as the starting lock partnership but Devin Toner played an important role in that success. Throw the uncapped but brilliant Tadhg Beirne into the mix and Joe Schmidt has one hell of a decision to make in Brisbane next week.
The merits of Toner were discussed by Kevin McLaughlin and James Downey on The Hard Yards while one of the leading rugby writers in Wales has paid Beirne the highest compliment possible.
Toner crashed over for his first Leinster try in six years against Scarlets in the Guinness PRO14 final. It was an added personal and collective bonus but Toner did not need that moment in the spotlight to show how vital he was in Leinster’s double win.
In both that final and the Champions Cup semi-final, with Scarlets the beaten foes again, Toner was unflappable in getting through a heap of work while disrupting the opposition. His work at the breakdown and the rolling mauls [attack and defence] was exemplary.
Both McLaughlin and Downey praised the second row’s performance in the final months of a trophy-laden season and noted how well he and James Ryan have bedded in as an effective partnership. Downey said:
“Devin Toner had an unbelievable game. Everyone is talking about ‘James Ryan, James Ryan’ but Dev was superb at the weekend.”
Joe Schmidt will be tempted to pair the Leinster duo for the Test Series against Australia but Henderson will be pressing his case. He missed the end of Ulster’s season with a knee injury, as did Rory Best [hamstring], but he has been cleared to travel.
From the outside, looking in, the battle is to see who will start alongside James Ryan, a young man who has won 23 of his 23 professional rugby outings.
The newcomer is a man coming off a season that may have ended without any silverware but he leaves Scarlets, and Wales, with many acclaiming his talents. Tadhg Beirne has finished the PRO14 season as top try-scoring forward, best lineout jumper [69 claims] and made a mountain-load of turnovers. His tally of 39 was 17 higher than the next best breakdown and lineout-stealing menace.
The IRFU shared an image of Beirne getting official squad photos taken after he was kitted out in his new Ireland gear. Leading Welsh rugby writer responded to my tweet of the picture by stating Beirne was ‘one of the very best players I have seen in Welsh pro rugby’.
Can play anywhere in the back five, but I prefer him at lock. I have never seen a second row so good over the ball in four decades of watching the game.
— Simon Thomas (@simonrug) May 30, 2018
Considering the standard of locks Thomas has reported on over the past four decades – including Alun Wyn Jones, Paul O’Connell, Brodie Retallick, Bakkies Botha and more – that is high, high praise.
Four top-quality locks at the peak of their powers and only jerseys No.4 and No.5 to hand out.
It looks to be a win-win-win-win situation for Joe Schmidt and Ireland.
