Tadhg Beirne was let go by his province at the age of 24 but his timing has been impeccable ever since.

The Irishman played just 39 senior minutes for Leinster before a move across the Irish Sea set him on course for two British & Irish Lions Tours.

Beirne’s versatility and adaptability has been key, and that comes both in and out of rugby.

Beirne the body double

The County Kildare native started out idolising Ireland’s football heroes before discovering rugby at Clongowes Wood College.

As his rugby progressed, he began not just to idolise rugby players, but impersonate them.

To break through to Leinster’s first team, Beirne funded his rugby dream with work delivering pizzas but also filling in as a body double for former Lions captain Paul O’Connell.

"I was doing a little side gig, trying to get a bit money," he told Sky Sports. "I had to make a living somehow.

“As an Irishman, everyone loves Paul O'Connell. His leadership qualities, his devotion to Ireland and the Lions - he put everything into the jersey.

"Every kid would have looked up to him growing up and I was certainly one of them.”

There was no way he could have foreseen following in O’Connell’s footsteps as captain for Munster, as an Ireland international and finally as a Lion.

However, while struggling to break through for Leinster, the bones of what would make him great were already there as he played for Lansdowne.

His former coach Mike Ruddock told BBC Sport: “My big memory of him initially is what an incredible athlete he was.

"There wasn't a huge amount of muscle mass on him in those days. He was lean, he was strong, and he was brilliant over the ball.

"Engine-wise, he would run all day, and he was very adaptable. Six or lock, he gave me an extra line-out jumper and another jackaller.”

Scarlets lifeline

The belief in his abilities was shared by Beirne himself, he just felt he was lacking the opportunity.

With no new contract at Leinster coming for the 2016-17 season, the chance was going to have to come from somewhere else.

And this is where timing comes into it – at the last minute, Welsh club Scarlets were short of players in the second row due to injury, call-ups and Aaron Shingler and Jake Ball both on paternity leave.

“If they hadn’t had those kids, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here today,” Beirne reflected as he returned to Irish provincial rugby.

After a stint playing for Llandovery, Beirne made his debut for Scarlets, coming off the bench against Munster.

He faced his future club again in the Pro12 final when the Scarlets triumphed to claim their first silverware in 13 years.

Interest piqued and before he had even completed a second season in Wales, he signed for Munster.

It might not have been that way, with Beirne eager to sign a longer and more lucrative contract with the Welsh team.

He said: "At the time, January at the end of first year, the guy that looked after the contracts, he was away skiing so wasn't replying to my agent's emails.

“I got a bit fired up, so I was very close to signing. I probably would have signed in that month or the following month.

“I wanted them to rip up the second year of my contract and re-sign a two or three-year contract, but they weren’t willing to do that.”

Taking notice

Beirne’s return to his homeland also coincided with a first senior international call-up, having played for Ireland’s U20s in 2012.

He came off the bench to replace Peter O’Mahony as Ireland beat Australia and was part of history as they won a series Down Under for the first time.

The then-26-year-old was riding a high, having also been named Players’ Player of the Season in the Pro14.

Now at a new club, he experienced a similar feeling, coming off the bench to make his debut just like he did for Leinster, Scarlets and Ireland.

But he was soon making an impact from the get-go and picked up even more individual honours, with a string of Player of the Match performances before retaining his place in the Pro14 Dream Team.

From there, the rise was halted after fracturing his ankle, with surgery in January 2020, but the timing of the Covid pandemic meant he missed less rugby than would have been expected.

His return also set him up for a seminal year in 2021, reaching his prime in international rugby just in time for the Lions’ Tour to South Africa.

Beirne began to start at lock for Ireland, earning a Player of the Six Nations nomination and a place in the Team of the Championship.

For the Lions, he played in four warm-up and non-Test games before making his Test debut from the bench in the first win over South Africa.

In doing so, he realised a dream that may have been extinguished in those final days at Leinster.

He told the Irish Times: “The lads kind of slag me that I was a bit late getting to the game, so I have a few more miles in the tank, maybe at my age.

“I feel pretty lucky to be in the situation I’m in. When I was 23 to 25, this was never really on the cards for me.”

Following a great

The next few years followed a similar pattern: a string of impressive performances in away victories for Ireland, World Cup selection, recognition on the world stage, and an ankle injury.

But something changed in 2024, Beirne was no longer able to quietly go about his business; instead, he was made Munster’s ninth permanent captain in the professional era, replacing the legendary O’Mahony.

Speaking on the decision, then-head coach Graham Rowntree said: “A player of his calibre commands respect and he has grown into a key leader for us since coming here.

“He demands the best out of everyone and drives standards within the group.

“He is an extremely calm presence on and off the field. It was very impressive to see how he was able to perform at his usual high level while captaining the squad in a number of big games last season.”

While Beirne admitted he was not a man of many words, he was keen to add it to his already wide-ranging game.

In recent times, he has been utilised in the back row for Ireland, while his long limbs make him a nightmare at the breakdown and a fearsome jackal threat.

But that is not all, as Beirne possesses a serious amount of pace and often makes breaks worthy of backs – with his occasionally inelegant finishing the only thing marking him out as a forward.

Nevertheless, captaincy seems only to have lifted him, not weighed him down, with his peers voting him Players’ Player of the Year in Ireland after featuring in all of Ireland’s game so far this year.

Beirne is once again reaching a peak at the right time.