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Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
One last dance for Tadhg Furlong with place in Lions pantheon secure
There will be one last dance as a British & Irish Lion, probably, for Tadhg Furlong on Saturday as the tighthead prop makes his ninth consecutive Test start to cement his status as one of Ireland's greatest Lions, and not everyone will be pleased to see him. "I'd rather (Andy Farrell) wasn't starting him for the third Test in a row, because he's such a gifted player and such a good character,' Australia boss Joe Schmidt. "I love guys like that, who really put everything into the game and he's such a good character in the team. "The first time I met him, he came in with his Mum and Dad with Collie McEntee who was coaching the Leinster academy, I was coaching there and he got brought into the office and introduced himself. He blocked the sun, briefly, and those shoulders haven't got any smaller since. "He's certainly an impressive young man and a world class player, so if he wants a day off on Saturday I'd be happy to see that." Now 32, Furlong's celebrations from the side of the pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Saturday as Hugo Keenan scored his series-securing try suggested a player with no intention of missing a minute of this series, the subbed-off prop bouncing down the touchline, arms punching the air. It would have made for the perfect ending to his journey with the famous touring side which had begun in New Zealand eight years ago and Furlong relished the joy and camararderie last weekend's 29-26 victory brought to the Lions dressing room at the MCG. Yet there is unfinished business to negotiate as they bid for a 3-0 series win over Australia at Sydney's Accor Stadium and the drive to finish the tour unbeaten in nine games on these shores has not been hard to summon. A victory over the Wallabies at Accor Stadium on Saturday would be the icing on the cake but Furlong is content with his body of work in the famous red jersey while Test start number nine to come will draw him level for consecutive starts with his 2021 captain Alun Wyn Jones, the Wales lock (2013-21), and England scrum-half Dickie Jeeps (1955-59). Only four Lions have played more Tests in succession, including Tony O'Reilly (10, 1955-59) and Willie John McBride at the top of the list with 15. 'It's great. Lions Tours are some of the best days of your career and I'm delighted to be able to go again. 'It wasn't something I overly thought of or I didn't know about either, to be honest with you. I just wanted to try to get on tour and play rugby and see where it got me, but it's class, yeah. To be up there. 'I remember I got selected, or people were speculating when I was going on the first Lions Tour. I was young and I was like, you think of Lions and you think of the players and you don't see yourself there to be mentioned in the same breath as them and I probably feel the same way now.' A drawn series against the All Blacks in 2017 at the age of 24, and a 2-1 loss to the Springboks behind closed doors during a Covid lockdown in South Africa four years ago offer plenty of opportunities to compare and contrast with the present tour. 'Each group of lads and coaches bring a different flavour to it. So, obviously the coach himself is completely different. 17 and 21 were similar-ish, obviously under Warren Gatland. And if you want to throw the South African one out of the mix, how does it compare to 17? 'I was probably young and making my way through it all and learning it all. Gats kind of backed me really. He backed Mako (Vunipola), myself and Jamie George through each of the Saturdays. 'I felt pressure by it, in a rugby country like New Zealand, there was pressure. I felt pressure. I probably didn't enjoy it socially as much as I should have, looking back. 'I think it's all part of the journey. Whereas this one, it's a great group of lads. I suppose I'm very familiar with the coaches. You feel more at ease. Obviously, I've gone on two and been around rugby a lot more. You feel more at ease. You feel more belonging straight from the start.' Tadhg Furlong at the Intercontinental Hotel Sydney. Pic: Dan Sheridan, Inpho Yet there is something about being on a Lions tour he cannot quite put his finger on. 'I've heard a lot of people explain Lions tours. I probably haven't found an explanation in a verbal form that matches how you feel about it as a player. It's a special thing. It really is. From all aspects.' Explaining the feeling of a winning Lions Test series compared to his Grand Slams with Ireland, and Champions Cup and URC titles with Leinster is less complicated, however. Furlong added: 'It's up there. It's up there. It's such a hard thing to do, and history tells you that. When you play for the Lions, you understand why, in terms of moulding everyone together and trying to get them on the same track, and the schedule and travel. 'It's right up there. As an achievement, as a team, there's not a massive body of work. You have eight weeks of work to show for it. Some of the other ones, you're trying for a long time and building over a season. It's probably one of the more satisfying, I would say, achievements that I've been a part of. 'I've never really had a long-term injury either, per se. I've had very healthy joints, knees, backs, necks. I've avoided all those things throughout my career, so I am very fortunate. I was very fortunate to get breaks when I got breaks as a young fella. 'I obviously came up through a good tutelage of the older lads in Leinster and Ireland, but I kind of got breaks, and that kind of maybe breakthrough year I had in 16-17, kind of came in time with a Lions tour, which was pure fortune.' Schmidt this week recalled the development of a player he handed an Ireland debut to in a World Cup warm-up game against Wales 10 years ago this month. "The first time he played a couple of Tests for us in Ireland, he found it tough as young props often do. "The first thing you realise is that this kid is resilient, he had a couple of injuries early on in his career. He got through those, then he got knocked back a couple of times early on, particularly at scrum... South Africa (2016) was a baptism of fire. "Since then, he's grown into a player who is multi-purpose. "I'll never forget the deft little offload he gave to Bundee Aki to go through a gap, to give CJ Stander a try at Twickenham (in the Grand Slam-clinching game of 2018). "Those skills he has with the ball, his ability to carry himself and he's very good, quite dynamic in the defensive line. "We were here, on tour, in 2018 and I remember David Pocock was just about to decide to get over the ball and Tadhg Furlong put him back a couple of metres from the ball. "He's a pretty well rounded, literally well rounded, character." Furlong could still be in his prime, for a front-rower, for Tests 10, 11 and 12 in four years when the Lions return to New Zealand but he brushes off the suggestion with a smile and a chuckle. 'Just about to turn 37. Could you imagine?' That many could imagine just that scenario underlines just what a unique player he is as a ball-playing tighthead, but Furlong has already embraced the prospect of his final game in red. 'You're still playing for the Lions. It's not hard to motivate yourself. My motivation is obvious. I'm not going to say I won't. I probably won't. I probably won't play for the Lions again. It's been very good to me. It's been very good to my career. You want to play well in it. 'I'm kind of leaving a lot of that emotional stuff behind us, without being clinical about it. You want to give the best version of yourself to it. Sometimes the last memory is the lasting memory you have in a jersey. I want it to be a good one.'
Times
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Times
Three tours, nine Test starts in row: how Tadhg Furlong became Lions rock
T adhg Furlong was close to tears as he walked around the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Saturday night, savouring a 29-26 victory over Australia, a Test series win at the third time of asking and a love affair with the British & Irish Lions that was drawing to a close. Time spares no man; not even one of the greatest players of his generation. 'It is a little bit emotional,' the Ireland prop said. 'The Lions has played a massive part in my career. It has shaped the way I play the game and think about the game. I know this Lions tour will be me closing the book on the Lions. I don't want it to end. It is a special thing to be a Lion.'
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'It's been well documented how much he loves playing for the Lions' - Andy Farrell hails Tadhg Furlong's 'amazing' Lions milestone
By Saturday night, Tadhg Furlong will be among esteemed British and Irish Lions company. The Wexford man is set to make his ninth consecutive start for the Lions in Test matches, a 100% record across his 2017, 2021 and 2025 tours. With nine Test caps, he will be inside the Lions' top 10 appearance holders of all time, a number only three Irish players have ever surpassed, those being Willie John McBride, Mike Gibson and Tony O'Reilly. Only Alun-Wyn Jones has made more Lions Test appearances in the professional era, while only four players have started more consecutive Tests across the 137-year history of Lions tours. "It's amazing, and it's been well documented how much he loves playing for the Lions," head coach Andy Farrell said, as he reflected on the 32-year-old's legacy. "It isn't just the performances that have been through the roof. It's also his manner on a Lions tour as well. I've never seen him in such good spirits, so he's ready to go again." Across both the Ireland and Lions team, Farrell has worked with Furlong for just shy of 10 years. And he says the prop's longevity hasn't occurred by accident, particularly in recent seasons when he has had to manage a series of calf and achilles injuries. "He would tell you that, he's had to adapt his training and how he looks after himself and understanding his body a lot more over the last couple of years. But to be honest, he's unbelievably diligent in all of that now. "But the nature of a tour like this works in somebody like Tadhg's favour because when you've not got a normal week, which is a seven-day process of warming up and warming down and having to do all sorts of stuff to tick boxes, you get out of your own way on a tour like this because you have to just roll with the punches of what's thrown in front of you. So I suppose that helps." Farrell has made two changes to his side for Saturday's final Test match in Sydney against the Wallabies, with James Ryan (below) and Blair Kinghorn starting, replacing Ollie Chessum and James Lowe. And the head coach says it was important to reward the pair after their impact off the bench in Saturday's series-clinching win in Melbourne. "We think that James thoroughly deserves his start. I think he's grown through this tour. "His physicality when he has come off the bench, when he has put the jersey on over the last three or four weeks has been there for all to see, so we think he's the right person to start the Test. "We thought that Blair is obviously a great athlete, but the unpredictability of his game makes him very dangerous. The conditions that we're expecting as far as the aerial game is concerned will be at its premium, so I think this game suits him," he added. In total, Farrell (below) has used just 27 players across these three Test matches, from a squad that at one stage had swelled to 45. Among those to have missed out on a Test cap is Josh van der Flier, one of Farrell's most trusted starters at Ireland. And the head coach says while players may be disappointed to have missed out on selection against the Wallabies, they've shown no signs of downing tools. "[I've learned] just how much they care. How much they care about the Lions, the Lions dream. How much it means to them. "When you package all that together of what it takes to come together as a top-class outfit as far as a rugby team, that's at the heart of it. "It actually touches you. It does. It touches you in the sense of how much it means to them. "For example, you come in after such a big victory on Saturday night, and I just left them to it because I couldn't get a word in. "The ones that were celebrating most were the ones who hadn't put the shirt on. It says it all, to be honest. "When we met back up on Tuesday and announced the team on Wednesday morning, and you see the same again – people reacting and congratulating each other. You get the type of training session we got yesterday afternoon, it says a lot about the squad." With the series already secure, Saturday's squad selection is a clear sign that Farrell (above) will not be content with a 2-1 victory, as the Lions look to complete a clean sweep over Australia for the first time in a three-game series since 1904. And while the summer did start with a defeat to Argentina in Dublin, the head coach says they're hugely motivated to finish their Australian tour unbeaten. "As you can imagine, it would mean the world to us. It's something that we promised ourselves that we was going to chase after and try our best to represent the group as best as we possibly can do. "Obviously, what goes along with that is representing the jersey and the brand of the British and Irish Lions, so we have a big responsibility this week.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Dan Sheehan on the Lions tour so far: ‘I've enjoyed absolutely every second of it'
Tadhg Furlong, Jack Conan and others who've been on these expeditions before warned Dan Sheehan . The experience of touring with the Lions, they said, will be beyond anything he might imagine. Despite the vastness of the playing numbers and backroom staff – 90-plus at any given moment – these 2025 Lions seem to have shared a single-minded focus on winning the series, yet they've also enjoyed themselves thoroughly. None more so than the talismanic and world-class Sheehan. While swiftly stressing that it's not over yet as they seek the 3-0 series clean sweep they targeted from the outset, Sheehan enthuses: 'What a country to tour! Australia has been unbelievable to us. And you're sitting around here looking at this [view], all these cities have been unbelievable, and the support along the road has been crazy.' It helps that the view he refers to sweeps across the entirety of the Sydney city centre, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. READ MORE Confirming what Furlong, Conan and the others had told him, Sheehan says: 'It's been absolutely mental. And I've enjoyed absolutely every second of it. It's flown by. You think back to Perth and you're like: 'Jeez, that was [five] weeks ago.' Now he has the bug too. 'Yeah, put the head down now for another four years. I'm going to try to get back on the plane.' Winning helps of course, especially sealing the series last Saturday in front of a record crowd for a rugby union match in Australia thanks to the biggest comeback in Lions' Test history. 'Those few hours with the lads after the game, they're always my favourite moments. We probably stuck around the MCG for far too long, but they were definitely memories that will last a lifetime and I think everyone's sort of celebrated enough now. So, looking forward to what's to come, but that was something special.' The Lions bask in a winning feeling on the pitch after the second Test against Australia last Saturday. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho The celebrations continued into Sunday before a harsh review on Monday before focus turned to Saturday's third Test in Sydney's Stadium Australia kick-off (8pm local time/11am Irish). While that will not be interpreted as anything like a free shot, this series win has added further testimony to Farrell's ability to mould a squad into a cohesive, tightly knit unit, no matter the scale or timespan. 'I think he puts the right people in the right places,' Sheehan explains. 'He's a big people person and he believes in people. You see that in the way the whole backroom staff is set up. We've had an unbelievable set-up and everything is perfectly done for us. He's a massive believer in environments and the people creating that winning culture in a team. 'That's definitely one thing that always pops to mind when I think of Faz and his teams over the years.' Embracing the players' families has also been a signature of Farrell's squads since becoming Ireland's head coach. As a player and assistant coach, he could never understand how this was not the done thing and vowed he would make families an extended part of the adventure. 'He understands that a lot of lads' motivations is their families and it's definitely mine,' adds Sheehan, noting how Farrell had dad Barry, whose diaries in The Irish Times have been such an entertaining insight into the lives of 'the shadows ', present Sheehan with his jersey for the first Test. 'My parents didn't think I knew it was happening, so they were like,' says Sheehan, miming the wide-eyed surprised look his parents had before he informed them he knew they were coming. 'It was something special, and I know it means a lot to my dad, being able to do that. He's obviously massively proud of all the milestones over the years. And it's the same for UCD rugby as it is for the Lions. It means the same to him for both.' In all of this, Sheehan adds, Farrell 'knows how to push people's buttons, and how to get the best out of people and families are always a big part.' Dan Sheehan knew the rules when he dived to score the opening try for the Lions against Australia in the second Test. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Last Saturday, Sheehan took his tally to three tries in five games on tour, and 17 in 19 games this season. Hookers are usually at the sharp end of catch-and-drives, but with Sheehan there have been all manner of finishes, whether outside or close in. But his finish from his own tap penalty, when diving over David Porecki and Harry Potter, was a new twist. It looked as if it had been a clever, planned ploy but it was actually off the cuff. 'I got absolutely melted trying to go low,' he recalled of a previous tap penalty. 'Then the second one I just thought: 'If I have a dive here ...'. It was just a throw and hope and I slipped through. I can see all the controversy about it, but I did know that you can dive in the air if you score.' As for his extraordinary strike rate, Sheehan says: 'It's obviously a massive part of why I enjoyed rugby growing up. I'll take all the tries that can come my way. I enjoy the attacking side of rugby and trying to figure out defences and set-piece moves. It's definitely something I focus on during a game.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Dan Sheehan: ‘The Lions tour has been chaos – and I've enjoyed absolutely every second of it'
Perched on the bench next to Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan could only watch, gut wrenched by the familiar feeling of a fate out of your hands. Plenty of times the pair had sat together exhausted yet enraptured, their front row efforts done but a game to which they had contributed plenty in the balance. Plenty of times, too, they had come out on the wrong side; the 2023 and 2024 Champions Cup finals, or perhaps most agonisingly that quarter-final night in Paris where Ireland's World Cup dreams came crashing down. With the British and Irish Lions bashing on the door for a match-winning try at the end of the second Test, the memories came flooding back. 'I was sitting there beside Tadhg and he looked at me and I looked at him,' Sheehan explains. 'He was like: 'How many times have we been sitting on this bench in this situation and we've never won a game?' And it was tough. It's almost harder watching it sometimes. 'When you're on the pitch you're so focused and you don't let your mind wander but when you're sitting on the bench it's out of your control. Obviously, the bench were doing a great job, which was nice to see but it was something that felt like a fan in some ways. You're so engulfed in what you're seeing. But it's probably almost more enjoyable watching it happen and being able to celebrate.' The story, of course, was different this time. It is perhaps wrong for Sheehan, a Six Nations grand slam winner and recent URC champion, to suggest that Ireland and Leinster have always come up short in the big moments but near misses have been a theme of a career otherwise on an outstanding track. His first-half try at the MCG on Saturday was his 17th in Test rugby and 16th in 16 games for club, country and British Isles this season, discounting his involvement in the tour games. If it was the great Keith Wood who first challenged what a hooker could be and do, the current occupant of the Ireland No 2 shirt is his spiritual successor, as comfortable in spaces open as tight. An athletically gifted front rower, he has long demonstrated his speed and skill up the touchline but Saturday's score showcased a different discipline. The legality of Sheehan's leap for the line over two would-be tacklers has been called into question – rugby's lawbook really has taken a beating this week – but the officials were happy he left his feet in the act of scoring rather than avoiding the grasping Wallabies. Sheehan blames a Lions squad-mate for having to take the tap penalty at all. 'It's a tough job in professional rugby,' he says. 'I don't know why they pick the hooker to do it. I think Exeter started that; [ Luke Cowan-Dickie ] probably did that. 'I took the first one and I got absolutely melted trying to go low. Usually, it's one lad goes low and someone maybe is high and I just got both shoulders melted low and I didn't really get much out of it. 'Then the second one I just thought: 'If I have a dive here...' I didn't know if they had anyone in the back. It was just a throw and hope and I slipped through. Yeah, I can see all the controversy about it, but I did know that you can dive in the air if you score. I'm not sure actually if I missed the line would it be a penalty or not? The play was trying to get as close to the line as possible for the second phase. I'll take all the tries that can come my way.' Sheehan has built quick bonds with Cowan-Dickie and Jamie George in the hooking group, while he has also enjoyed turning foes into friends. 'There's a few lads your own age that you've sort of come up through age-grades like Ollie Chessum, Ben Earl. You're kind of growing up hating these lads, and then all of a sudden, you're like, everyone's a pretty good fella.' The 26-year-old will extend his stay in Sydney by a couple of days to make the most of the city and savour every moment of his first Lions experience. It seems unlikely to be his last. 'I think back to that sort of two-week block where we had I don't know how many games, where it was a Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, like it's just chaos going around, all these different cities and the whole organisation moving around. And, you know, you kind of get lost in it, but it just works somehow. 'It's been absolutely mental. And I've enjoyed absolutely every second of it. It's flown by. And then you think back to Perth and you're like, jeez, that was weeks ago. It'd be hard not to make a squad in the years to come when you know how special these sorts of moments can be. So I think, put the head down now for another four years, please. I'm going to try and get back on the plane.'
