Bealham's Lions delight as Farrell's men get up and running
WHEN FINLAY BEALHAM first arrived in Ireland back in 2010, he couldn't have imagined where his rugby career would lead. The Lions were surely not on his radar.
The Australia U20s had overlooked the Canberra native. There was no place for Bealham in the Brumbies academy.
So he chased up his family connections. Bealham's granny on his mum's side hails from Enniskillen and they had been on a few family holidays to Ireland during his youth.
Bealham sent some video clips of him in action to Ireland U20s boss Mike Ruddock and the young Australian loosehead prop was soon jetting to the other side of the world.
Initially, he linked up with Ulster's academy on a trial basis and played club rugby for Belfast Harlequins, but after featuring alongside the likes of Iain Henderson, JJ Hanrahan, and Kieran Marmion for the Irish U20s, Bealham got a call from Connacht academy boss Nigel Carolan.
He leapt at the academy contract offer and moved west. Bealham spent his first season living with Marmion in a house in Renmore that didn't have heating. He must have pined for Canberra, but he put his head down and learned the ropes in Connacht.
Dan McFarland, who was forwards coach at the time, suggested Bealham should move to tighthead prop and he hasn't looked back since, bar one start at loosehead for Ireland against Georgia in 2020. He does still get marked as an option at loosehead on the official Irish team sheets, but Bealham is now a Lions tighthead.
A popular figure in the Irish squad, the quirky and affable Bealham should add plenty to Farrell's group on tour, while he has earned everyone's respect with his strong performances in Tadhg Furlong's absence over the last few years.
Bealham's slick hands have featured in some of Ireland's best tries in recent seasons, he is a technically strong tackler, and has worked hard to become a consistent, disciplined set-piece operator.
It's fitting that this latest big step in Bealham's career will bring him back to Canberra, where the Lions face the Brumbies on 9 July. That will be a proud day for him and fellow Canberra man Mack Hansen. Connacht's impressive three-man contingent is, of course, completed by Bundee Aki. These are good times for the western province's fans.
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Finlay Bealham with the Lions today. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
33-year-old Bealham's delight comes at the same time as despair for Scotland's Zander Fagerson, ruled out of the tour due to a calf injury.
The honour of being a Lion remains at the forefront of players' minds, yet the financial gain that comes with the honour is important too.
A new profit-sharing agreement in place for the upcoming tour means that the players who make it to Australia as part of the squad will earn a minimum of €100,000 each, regardless of whether they feature in the Test series against the Wallabies.
In what tends to be a relatively short career, that is serious stuff.
It's all the more cruel for Fagerson in a sporting sense, given that he had a frustrating tour back in 2021 when a back injury stymied his chance to get off to a strong start. He played no part in the Test series.
The 29-year-old had a shot of doing so this time around, but now follows Caelan Doris into that horrible list of players denied their Lions shot by injury.
So it is that the Irish contingent on this tour becomes 16-strong as Bealham joins lots of familiar faces.
The Connacht tighthead is one of 24 players to have linked up at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin yesterday. Andy Farrell's men had a gym session today and fly out to Portugal tomorrow for a warm-weather training camp. The Lions will use the same facilities in Quinta do Lago where Ireland train at least once a year.
Farrell's men will return to Dublin for training next week and face Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in their opening warm-up game on Friday 20 June.
Leinster advancing to the URC final this weekend means Farrell doesn't have their 12-man contingent this week, while there are three players – Finn Russell, Will Stuart, and Ollie Chessum – involved in the Premiership decider, and Blair Kinghorn is still on Top 14 duty with Toulouse.
Tom Curry and Marcus Smith in Dublin. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
It remains to be seen if any of those involved in this weekend's URC and Premiership finals will be pressed into action against Argentina. If, say, Rónan Kelleher plays 20 minutes off the bench for Leinster, he may well be able to go again the following Friday.
Farrell could just about do without any of them if required, having added two players to his group on a temporary basis.
The highly experienced Jamie George, a two-time Lions tourist, comes in with Dan Sheehan and Kelleher still with Leinster, while the highly promising 20-year-old English prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour also links up with the Lions as Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, and Tadhg Furlong are not available.
The explosive Opoku-Fordjour shone for the England U20s as a loosehead but has featured mainly as a tighthead for club side Sale. That versatility will be handy in Lions camp over the next while.
George and Opoku-Fordjour get the chance to convince Farrell that they need to be brought on tour, even if there aren't any further injuries to the original squad. Front row depth is always crucial, all the more so with Furlong still on the comeback trail.
Farrell will be excited to get stuck into training for the first time this week as the Argentina game finally looms. Even if he is without all the URC and Premiership finalists, the Lions boss will still be sending out an excellent team.
A potential pack of Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Bealham, Maro Itoje, Tadhg Beirne, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl, and Tom Curry would be punchy, with the likes of George, Pierre Schoeman, Opoku-Fordjour, Scott Cummings, and Henry Pollock in reserve.
Halfbacks Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith could steer the ship and launch a backline including Aki, Huw Jones, Tommy Freeman, and Mack Hansen. Sione Tuipulotu, Elliot Daly, Tomos Williams, and Marcus Smith will also be hoping for the first shot. Duhan van der Merwe hasn't played since March, so it remains to be seen whether he's ready to go but the Lions still have plenty of firepower.
That Argentina game is just four weeks before the first Test against the Wallabies, so opportunity knocks for the likes of new call-up Bealham.
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WHEN FINLAY BEALHAM first arrived in Ireland back in 2010, he couldn't have imagined where his rugby career would lead. The Lions were surely not on his radar. The Australia U20s had overlooked the Canberra native. There was no place for Bealham in the Brumbies academy. So he chased up his family connections. Bealham's granny on his mum's side hails from Enniskillen and they had been on a few family holidays to Ireland during his youth. Bealham sent some video clips of him in action to Ireland U20s boss Mike Ruddock and the young Australian loosehead prop was soon jetting to the other side of the world. Initially, he linked up with Ulster's academy on a trial basis and played club rugby for Belfast Harlequins, but after featuring alongside the likes of Iain Henderson, JJ Hanrahan, and Kieran Marmion for the Irish U20s, Bealham got a call from Connacht academy boss Nigel Carolan. He leapt at the academy contract offer and moved west. Bealham spent his first season living with Marmion in a house in Renmore that didn't have heating. He must have pined for Canberra, but he put his head down and learned the ropes in Connacht. Dan McFarland, who was forwards coach at the time, suggested Bealham should move to tighthead prop and he hasn't looked back since, bar one start at loosehead for Ireland against Georgia in 2020. He does still get marked as an option at loosehead on the official Irish team sheets, but Bealham is now a Lions tighthead. A popular figure in the Irish squad, the quirky and affable Bealham should add plenty to Farrell's group on tour, while he has earned everyone's respect with his strong performances in Tadhg Furlong's absence over the last few years. Bealham's slick hands have featured in some of Ireland's best tries in recent seasons, he is a technically strong tackler, and has worked hard to become a consistent, disciplined set-piece operator. It's fitting that this latest big step in Bealham's career will bring him back to Canberra, where the Lions face the Brumbies on 9 July. That will be a proud day for him and fellow Canberra man Mack Hansen. Connacht's impressive three-man contingent is, of course, completed by Bundee Aki. These are good times for the western province's fans. Advertisement Finlay Bealham with the Lions today. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO 33-year-old Bealham's delight comes at the same time as despair for Scotland's Zander Fagerson, ruled out of the tour due to a calf injury. The honour of being a Lion remains at the forefront of players' minds, yet the financial gain that comes with the honour is important too. A new profit-sharing agreement in place for the upcoming tour means that the players who make it to Australia as part of the squad will earn a minimum of €100,000 each, regardless of whether they feature in the Test series against the Wallabies. In what tends to be a relatively short career, that is serious stuff. It's all the more cruel for Fagerson in a sporting sense, given that he had a frustrating tour back in 2021 when a back injury stymied his chance to get off to a strong start. He played no part in the Test series. The 29-year-old had a shot of doing so this time around, but now follows Caelan Doris into that horrible list of players denied their Lions shot by injury. So it is that the Irish contingent on this tour becomes 16-strong as Bealham joins lots of familiar faces. The Connacht tighthead is one of 24 players to have linked up at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin yesterday. Andy Farrell's men had a gym session today and fly out to Portugal tomorrow for a warm-weather training camp. The Lions will use the same facilities in Quinta do Lago where Ireland train at least once a year. Farrell's men will return to Dublin for training next week and face Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in their opening warm-up game on Friday 20 June. Leinster advancing to the URC final this weekend means Farrell doesn't have their 12-man contingent this week, while there are three players – Finn Russell, Will Stuart, and Ollie Chessum – involved in the Premiership decider, and Blair Kinghorn is still on Top 14 duty with Toulouse. Tom Curry and Marcus Smith in Dublin. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO It remains to be seen if any of those involved in this weekend's URC and Premiership finals will be pressed into action against Argentina. If, say, Rónan Kelleher plays 20 minutes off the bench for Leinster, he may well be able to go again the following Friday. Farrell could just about do without any of them if required, having added two players to his group on a temporary basis. The highly experienced Jamie George, a two-time Lions tourist, comes in with Dan Sheehan and Kelleher still with Leinster, while the highly promising 20-year-old English prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour also links up with the Lions as Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, and Tadhg Furlong are not available. The explosive Opoku-Fordjour shone for the England U20s as a loosehead but has featured mainly as a tighthead for club side Sale. That versatility will be handy in Lions camp over the next while. George and Opoku-Fordjour get the chance to convince Farrell that they need to be brought on tour, even if there aren't any further injuries to the original squad. Front row depth is always crucial, all the more so with Furlong still on the comeback trail. Farrell will be excited to get stuck into training for the first time this week as the Argentina game finally looms. Even if he is without all the URC and Premiership finalists, the Lions boss will still be sending out an excellent team. A potential pack of Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Bealham, Maro Itoje, Tadhg Beirne, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl, and Tom Curry would be punchy, with the likes of George, Pierre Schoeman, Opoku-Fordjour, Scott Cummings, and Henry Pollock in reserve. Halfbacks Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith could steer the ship and launch a backline including Aki, Huw Jones, Tommy Freeman, and Mack Hansen. Sione Tuipulotu, Elliot Daly, Tomos Williams, and Marcus Smith will also be hoping for the first shot. Duhan van der Merwe hasn't played since March, so it remains to be seen whether he's ready to go but the Lions still have plenty of firepower. That Argentina game is just four weeks before the first Test against the Wallabies, so opportunity knocks for the likes of new call-up Bealham.
