Back at the height of the pre-Lions tour squad selection frenzy, BT Sport decided to fill an hour on their schedule with a mock draft. Ben Kay was first up to select and his choice was telling.
What was even more telling was that, by removing Tadhg Furlong from the equation, he’d upset everyone else’s plans as Lawrence Dallaglio and Sam Warburton rejigged their selections.
That three of the great forwards of the last 20 years singled the Campile, Co Wexford native out as the most important player in the mix was telling. Although he spoke about being sick with nerves on the morning of the squad announcement, Furlong’s place on this Lions tour was never in doubt.
He is the only Irish player for whom the case could be made that he is the best player in his position in the world and, as the Lions go to the home of a Springbok pack that dismantled England at scrum-time at the last World Cup, he is the one player they can ill-afford to lose over the next few weeks.
Lion No 818 is the pride of New Ross RFC. The Wexford club, which had to put celebrations of its 50th year on hold last year, had never produced a senior international before Furlong won his first cap in 2014, but they knew they had something special in the big unit with hands of gold.
The son of local butcher and farmer James and school principal Margaret of Whiddy Island in Co Cork, he stood out from the crowd early, according to the club’s president David Burke.
“Tadhg was something special when he was five, six, seven or eight even,” he recalls. “His claim to fame was when the calves were calved in the sheds out there, whether they were a couple of days old – no damage to Tadhg or to them – that’s how he practised his tackling, getting the back two legs of the calf and making sure the calf was brought down to the ground.
“He’d have had a couple of great mentors, the club would take some pride in it because we would like to see ourselves as being an all-inclusive club. We’ve boys and girls playing, Kathryn Dempsey represented Leinster at U-18 two years ago. Wherever there’s talent we’ll try and nurture that as best we can.
“I remember Tadhg playing U-16 and it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Tadhg was No 8, their little scrum-half got the ball and ran at Tadhg and tried to go around him. Instead of Tadhg taking the ball, he caught the young fella and the young fella wouldn’t let go of the ball, so Tadhg just caught him and the ball and ran the two of them down the field. It was something to behold, the enormity of the strength the guy had.”
It wasn’t long before Leinster’s talent spotters took note of the physical specimen with outstanding skills and once they got their hands on him they turned his attention towards the front of the scrum.
Furlong, famously, was always the same weight as his age growing up and the combination of that natural size, the strength gained on the farm and the skills he honed playing rugby for New Ross and football and hurling for Horeswood combined to create a very modern front-row player.
After his Leaving Cert, Furlong moved to Dublin to play for Clontarf and join the Leinster Academy where his talents were honed. When he was coach of Furlong with the Ireland U-20s, Mike Ruddock would hand out an award for the tackle of the day after training and the prop was a regular recipient.
The confident youngster earned the nickname ‘The Mayor of Wexford’ from his Welsh coach, but after one prize-giving he pulled him aside with a serious face and asked Ruddock to stop using the moniker. Somewhat concerned, Ruddock asked why and Furlong simply said: ‘Call me the Jukebox, because the hits keep coming!’
He was part of the 2011 U-20s side that beat South Africa on home soil and will provide four Lions, Furlong, Jack Conan, Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson, this summer. He made his Leinster debut in 2013 and within two years he had earned a spot in Joe Schmidt’s squad for the 2015 World Cup at the age of 22.
In 2016, he took over the mantle of Ireland’s tighthead from Mike Ross and a year later, he’d started all three Tests for the Lions in New Zealand and was surely in the mix for player of the series, having played more minutes than any other front-row player on that tour.
Four years on, he has been through the ups of a Grand Slam campaign and the lows of World Cup disappointment and serious injury, but he remains at the top of the game.
“He’s up there with the best tightheads in the world, isn’t he?” Leinster and Lions scrum-coach Robin McBryde said of the 28-year-old. “Knowledgeable, and probably in and around everything rugby-wise, not just the scrum. A different animal, got a wider view, a bigger view of the game with regards how he sees opportunities for himself to get into the game.”
Last year, Furlong’s trajectory hit turbulence for the first time. A combination of the pandemic and niggly back and calf injuries robbed him of a year of rugby and inevitably led to some doubt about his long-term future.
Leinster and Ireland missed him and, when he returned, he served a reminder of his power and was the star of the national team’s win over England that put a gloss on their Six Nations campaign.
The stir Furlong caused by opting to sign a one-year contract recently highlighted his value.
He is Ireland’s best player right now, a senior leader in the international set-up and a talismanic figure who sets the tone for his team. That he comes from a non-traditional rugby background makes him all the more valuable to the Irish rugby brand; losing him would be a major mistake.
McBryde believes he has further to go before he gets back to his best and the hope is he will truly hit his straps this summer.
“He’s starting to regain some of that match fitness he missed out on because of the slow progression that he made with his injury,” he said. “I still don’t think we’ve seen the best of Tadhg to be honest with you. Hopefully he’ll get there in the summer and we’ll see another step up with regards his performances.”
Although they won’t be able to travel over and support him, New Ross RFC are hoping they can at least gather in their recently refurbished clubhouse and support their man from afar if allowed.
“Are we proud? For every parent in the club it’s like Tadhg is everybody’s son. He’s my son, he’s the chairman’s son, the secretary’s son,” Burke says. “We feel that pride and the hair standing on the back of your neck every time he puts on a Leinster jersey, Ireland jersey or a Lions jersey. It comes from him. He’s not aloof, he gives of his time.”
LIONS IN FOCUS . . .
Name: Tadhg Furlong
Leinster, tighthead prop
Age: 28
Height: 6ft
Weight: 19st, 4lbs
Ireland caps (points): 49 (25)
Form: Recovered from his back injury in time to star in Ireland’s Six Nations campaign and he is showing signs of getting back to his best.
Test chances: A guaranteed starter if fit, Furlong’s scrummaging will be key to the Lions’ success against a South Africa team that dismantled the England set-piece in the World Cup final.