British and Irish Lions forward Tadhg Beirne has admitted that he “felt the pressure” to produce a big performance in the first Test win against Australia after his selection had been questioned ahead of the game.
Beirne had been somewhat surprisingly installed on the blindside by head coach Andy Farrell for the opening clash of the series against the Wallabies having been short of his best since arriving on tour.
The 33-year-old Munster and Ireland forward upped his level, however, in Brisbane, combining with fellow flanker Tom Curry to set the tone physically as the Lions took a 1-0 lead in the series.
While Curry would not be drawn on the criticism his own selection ahead of Jac Morgan and Josh van der Flier had garnered, Farrell hailed both he and Beirne as “big game players”.
And Beirne, who looks well placed to keep his place in Melbourne next week, admitted that he had been fuelled by a desire to prove the critics wrong and hit the heights he had been yet to reach in Australia.
“I felt the pressure,” Beirne conceded. “I’m not going to lie, I did feel the pressure this week. There are some things you can’t shy away from. A lot of people [were] calling for your head out there.
“I know my performances to this date weren’t up to par by my standards. Faz [Farrell] has put a lot of trust in me and it was an honour to be selected. I had to put in a performance today. All of us did.
“This is the game. Big games. You want to perform. You either step up to it or you don’t. I tried my best to step up to it and hopefully when [the coaches] review the game they will be happy with my performance.
“You have to back yourself, but I also knew that if I didn’t put in a performance today that there was a good chance I won’t be there next week. It’s a credit to the whole team here because the whole team put in a great performance, particularly in the first half. We controlled the game really well.”
The fight for back row places had shaped as a theme of the tour from the moment Farrell named his party, with real strength in the area. The exclusion of Morgan, particularly, had attracted attention with the openside in fine form as the last Welshman in the touring party.
Beirne revealed that Farrell had underlined to he, Curry, No 8 Jack Conan and Ben Earl the need to be at their best given the internal competition for places.
“Look, Andy had a quiet word with the back row, the captains, and he said a few things to us,” the 33-year-old explained. “He put a little bit of pressure on us without putting pressure on us, you know, as Andy does.
“But it gives you motivation and it gives you a little bit of realisation as to where his head’s at and the opportunity that’s being presented to us. Those words certainly sat with me for the 24 hours leading up to the game.
“That’s the thing about the Lions. Any man next up has more than earned their spot. There’s been incredible performances in the lead-up to these Tests. If I’d have gone down with an injury, [Ollie Chessum] would have went into six, no-one would have batted an eyelid there, not ‘oh no, Tadhg’s out’, do you know what I mean? It would have been like ‘great, Chess is in’.
“So that’s the tour we’re in. These guys everyone’s gunning for a position here and everyone’s worthy of a position here. The responsibility is on us to try and keep our positions.”
