When Tadhg Beirne tells you to sit down, you don’t look for a chair.
The powerful lock looks to be moving yet another step closer to returning to Ireland with a move to Thomond Park at the end of the season.
In the summer, The Limerick Leader broke the story that Munster and the IRFU were in talks with the former Leinster player to bring him on board for the 2018/19 season and that signing is becoming more and more of a reality.
Beirne turned down a new two-year contract with Welsh outfit Scarlets where he won the Pro 12 last year, beating Munster in the final.
The 25-year-old was immense in that decider. He doesn’t just possess ignorant brute force, but he has massive balls and massive heart and that is a potent concoction when you come as talented as the Kildare native does.
During that victory at the Aviva in May, Beirne bashed CJ Stander, Niall Scannel and Conor Murray over the line for a try for Scarlets in an emphatic show of what Leinster are missing.
🔥 Sublime from @scarlets_rugby!
🏉 Tadhg Beirne scores number four in @PRO12rugby final!
📱 https://t.co/CVV6uHVkbL pic.twitter.com/ncAZNSlSmC
— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) May 27, 2017
He had played just four games with his home province in a full season before making the move to Wales where he has already become a champion.
But Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac told the press that Beirne’s contract still hasn’t been resolved and it looks like it will run out after this campaign.
“Tadhg had a standout game for us at the breakdown in Ulster last weekend, but he is one of about 20 players who are coming out of contract at the end of this season,” admitted Pivac.
That would mean that the forward would be free to join Munster on June 1 and, yes, he would then be eligible for Ireland selection – a motivation the player himself already spoke openly about.
Exciting times for the red of Munster and, the better he gets, the more painful the transfer could be for Leinster.
