A crimson glow on Tadhg Beirne’s forehead beneath the hairline hints that the last full day before the Ireland squad travels back home on Wednesday has been a January scorcher in Quinta do Lago.
Beirne probably knows by now whether he starts against England on Saturday at lock or in the backrow at No 6 but, restorative sun vitamins or not, the opening match against a physical England side will be challenging.
For the six international matches Beirne played in South Africa and in the Autumn Nations Series, he started in the second row twice and in the back row four times. For the four games he played in last year’s Six Nations, all were in the second row.
Who will start at 10 for Ireland during the Six Nations?
There are clear options for coach Simon Easterby and what he decides will have the obvious knock-on effect. Playing as a lock, then James Ryan, Joe McCarthy and Beirne can’t all start in Ireland’s opening game. Playing at six with captain Caelan Doris at number eight and Josh van der Flier at seven means bench duty for the other flankers.
Either way England will come to Dublin, as they always do, with a little edge. And in a year like this always in the back of their minds – much as they might say it isn’t – a trip to Australia with the Lions next summer.
“I think it’s a great rivalry,” says Beirne. “You know I think most people would love to beat England and we’re no different to most nations and we’ve a particular rivalry. I think that’s why it sticks out more than most in the Six Nations.”
It is an aspect of the match that players must embrace says Beirne, but not too much.
“You kind of have to let yourself do that a little bit, but you can’t get carried away either,” he says. “You go off into your own little world if you do that. You have to come back to what we are trying to do here, our performance. But you also want to let the occasion build up a bit of emotion, so that you can bring that extra edge if you can.
“There is no harm in that. But in terms of the performance that is where all our focus lies. From an individual point of view, if you can leave that bit leak in a little bit that it gives you an edge, but not too much or you are overemotional about the whole occasion.”
England arrive with the bragging rights thanks to bench heroics from Marcus Smith, who came on after an hour to drop a winning goal in injury time for a 23-22 win in Twickenham last year. The Harlequins pivot starts in Dublin this time with Alex Mitchell at scrumhalf but they are less of a concern than captain and lock Maro Itoje. Regardless of Beirne’s number, Itoje will figure as an agitator-in-chief and a canny lineout jumper.
“He’s a phenomenal player, he’s shown that throughout his career and he’s someone who certainly lives on the edge,” says Beirne. “Sometimes he probably gets caught on that, but I think his influence on games is often very positive. And I think he can be the reason a team ticks and a reason they win games, because of the influence he can have on the game.
“He’s that type of player and being in that captain’s role for England now, I’m sure it will elevate his performance even more in terms of he’d probably feel a responsibility to perform at that high level all the time. It often does bring out the best in players and he’ll probably be no different.”
Beirne will find few dissenters with his assessment as he continues to get used to the new rules. For players like him, scrumhalves are chum in the water that big men love eating up at scrum time by reaching across and disrupting.
That is no longer allowed with Beirne seeing the changes as overly protective. He hasn’t changed his mind and before the team came to Portugal he wryly pointed out to Conor Murray that his career had just been extended by five years.
The squad had referee Frank Murphy in camp on Tuesday in The Campus training grounds to go through the nuances and practicalities of the changes.
“There are still some grey areas for sure,” says Beirne. “It may be smart not to go after those grey areas, tempting as they may be, especially around the ruck. I still feel pretty strongly about what I said. I won’t lie. I still think the nines are being looked after a bit much but that’s just my opinion. It’s up to us to get our heads around it.”
That and the rest.
