The Tadhg Furlong trick play that had English heads spinning

Conan Doherty

They were calling Tadhg Furlong the greatest tighthead in the world on Saturday but the reality is that he is even more than that.

In The Making of Tadhg Furlong episode, everyone talked about what a naturally talented sportsman he was. It was never just a case that he was a big lad who made himself useful, he was actually gifted too.

The clips of him playing football show how merciless he was in the tackle and how nimble he was on his feet with a little jink onto his left foot. With the hurl, he played for Wexford underage teams and, with the rugby ball, he wowed even opposition supporters.

New Ross RFC chairman Peter O’Brien said that Furlong was so good with the oval ball in fact, that his options were not limited to the front row by any stretch.

“He could just as easily have been an outhalf,” O’Brien said.

“He could just as easily have been a number 8. But he ended up being an excellent prop.”

Well, as Ireland claimed the country’s third ever Grand Slam win, in Twickenham, on St. Patrick’s Day, Tadhg Furlong was man of the match. Of course he was.

It wasn’t just that the Wexford native was impossible to move even one step back as he annihilated anything that came close to him, it was how good he was on the ball too and that wasn’t better displayed than that mouthwatering second try that saw CJ Stander barge to the foot of the post.

With a trick play which, as Furlong said afterwards, was invented by Joe Schmidt and worked on in the training field, Ireland sliced through England like a roasting knife sliding through melting butter.

It was a frightening line break from Bundee Aki but it was only made possible by the graceful wrecking ball that is Tadhg Furlong.

Conor Murray starts the thing.

Johnny Sexton offloads to Aki once he can see the play is set up.

Furlong’s line will split the two white jerseys and Aki will have the chance to drive.

Sexton fakes as if he’s going for the return off Furlong which makes one defender think twice about coming so narrow.

A pirouette from the prop and some soft hands and Aki is through.

Of course, he still had to make a timed and accurate pass and CJ Stander still had a hell of a lot to do thereafter too but it all came about because Ireland had a front row player able to interact with his outhalf and centre with such beautiful telepathy.