Ireland have a shot at revenge against New Zealand tonight.
Recent weeks haven’t been kind to Tadhg Beirne.
The second row superstar was granted the Munster captaincy under Graham Rowntree, but with a shaky start to the season culminating in the head coach’s departure, Munster looks like an unstable environment right now.
An escape of sorts, Andy Farrell’s famously happy Ireland camp could strike quite the contrast
Away from a back-peddling Munster pack and a misfiring lineout, Beirne, as one of the game’s premier forwards, should be able to refocus himself and find form for a clash with the world’s most famous side, the All Blacks.
The truth is, he will probably need to.
Although recent history has been kind to Ireland against New Zealand, Farrell’s troops failed to get the job done when it mattered most in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final.
That game finished 28-24 at the Stade de France and tonight will be the first time the two sides have faced off since.
As if the game itself didn’t add enough fuel to this growing rivalry, the fallout from Rieko Ioane’s now-famous war of words with Johnny Sexton certainly has.
Writing in his book ‘Obsessed’, Sexton revealed that Ioane told him to “enjoy retirement, you c***t”, directly after his final Ireland game in Paris. Not something which went down particularly well with Sexton or his Irish teammates.
Beirne hopes to banish Ireland’s demons.
It’s Caelan Doris, rather than Beirne, who has been bestowed with the Ireland captaincy, but there is no doubt that every one of Ireland’s senior players will need to deliver tonight to fill the leadership void caused by Sexton’s absence.
There’s sufficient ammunition for them to deliver; if not to do the country proud, then to banish ghosts from the past.
Beirne, speaking to the press ahead of this heavyweight bout went as far as to say he “still has nightmares” over the World Cup quarter-final shortcoming last year.
“I still have nightmares about that game,” explained the Kildare native.
“Look, it is a game of inches at the end of the day and there is a few moments in that game where we have looked back and said ‘we could have done this’ and ‘we could have done that’.
“It is just being better in the moment, being able to see things in the moment and take those opportunities.
“One thing that sticks out in my mind was something I don’t usually do in a four-man. I usually put pressure on the number nine and I decided not to.
“Then they ultimately scored off it. It didn’t ultimately lose us the game but they are moments in the game where you certainly think back and have nightmares about.
“If there is one thing we can be better at it is just continue to try and see opportunities and take them.”
The game kicks off at 8.10pm and is live on Virgin Media television.
You can follow all the latest updates here.
