Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne have established themselves as Andy Farrell’s preferred second row pairing.
GIVEN IRELAND’S HIGHLY impressive form in storming to three bonus-point wins across their opening three Six Nations fixtures, it’s been easy to overlook the changes and challenges which Andy Farrell’s squad have absorbed with such ease along the way.
Across the wins against France, Italy and Wales, Nash has slotted seamlessly into Ireland’s slick attacking system.The 6/2 bench split has been another new feature for Ireland in this championship, making the desired impact when called upon against France and Wales, while in the Ireland pack, Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne have quickly formed a formidable second row partnership.
Farrell has strong options at lock but for now, the McCarthy-Beirne partnership looks hard to break up.“I suppose that’s the balance of a good second-row partnership. Tadhg is doing a great job of calling the lineout, he’s nice and composed as far as that is concerned. “When people say you’ve got to be more direct and you’ve got to hit the front door more and let’s do that for the first 20 minutes and let’s be direct and let’s see if we can win collisions that way – well then you’re taking away everyone’s decision making within that type of game,” Farrell said.