‘The dark arts are slowly going out of the game’: Tadhg Beirne adapting to law tweaks

Several aspects of his game have helped to make Tadhg Beirne a truly world-class player over the last decade, including his renowned ability to win turnovers in defensive mauls and over the ball. But two factors have combined to potentially reduce his impact in those categories this season.Ahead of Munster’s opening Champions Cup game against Racing 92 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday (kick-off 8pm), it will be close to one of the wonders of the world if the game does not feature tries off penalties to the corner and resultant catch-and-drives.Law tweaks have made this the game’s staple diet and for players like Beirne they have become harder to defend than ever this season.“You’re going to see a lot more mauls for sure, certainly teams going for the corner a lot more,” said the Munster captain, noting that if the attacking teams achieve “any kind of a go-forward, you’re in the shit really. There’s not much you can do, because the penalties, the advantages come quick, and sometimes you get caught in a position where you can’t get out.READ MORE“It’s a fine art now to make sure you’re defending the mauls properly and there’s a lot of pressure on you when you are on your own five-metre line to make sure you’re defending them well.”As to whether this is a positive change for the game, Beirne said: “I think it’ll probably clean up the game in how it’ll be reffed because it might be a bit easier for refs to manage the maul.“There were a few ways of getting around the laws a little. I tended to do it where if you have one shoulder attached to the maul and you can reach around, but that’s all gone now.“I’d say refs are probably happier with it because it cleans it up and makes it easier. You’re less likely to have collapsed mauls and turnovers, so maybe that’s good for the game.Munster's Tadhg Beirne with Player of the match Marnus van der Merwe after Ulster clash. Photograph: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho “The dark arts are slowly going out of the game, that’s for sure,” said Beirne, a tad wistfully.“It’s like anything in the game,” he said, noting that defences are under focus and in time it will be attacking mauls and how they’re set up.“There are laws that have been there for a long time but haven’t been reffed, but they just focus in on them.”[ Munster aim to honour Anthony Foley in best way possible – with victory against RacingOpens in new window ]The other factor is Marnus van der Merwe, who has followed the same path as Beirne from the Scarlets to Munster. He’s only played against the Welsh region twice in seven seasons, but Beirne was fully aware of the hooker’s threat over the ball from Munster’s scouting, and there were a couple of poaches by Van der Merwe in addition to his try in last Saturday’s player of the match performance in the 26-all draw away to Ulster.“He’s a different profile to me over the ball. My opportunities come in different ways than his, but if I see him near the ball, I’ll probably leave it to him before I go at it because he’s a harder object to move than me.“The big thing I’ve learned over the years is not to chase everything and pick your opportunities. It’s also knowing who’s around you as well, so I’m sure he’ll be getting a few more and maybe mine will go down. But I don’t really care about that.”The tournament has, sadly, lost much of its lustre from its glory years.“There’s no going away from the fact that the numbers in terms of attendance around the whole competition is down. I remember first coming here and getting a ticket for a Champions Cup weekend, or Heineken Cup as it was called back then, was near to impossible. We were pleading with each other trying to get tickets off ourselves.Jacob Stockdale and Tadhg Beirne in draw with Ulster. Photograph: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho “There’s no shying away from that but that doesn’t take away from how important the competition is to us as a club and us as a team. I think it’s still the pinnacle of club rugby. It’s the competition every team wants to win because I think you’re top of the charts then.“Every weekend I can guarantee you most people aren’t watching the Top 14 or the Premiership or some people aren’t even watching the URC, but I can guarantee you every weekend when it comes to the Champions Cup, whether you’re in France, England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland, you’re watching the Champions Cup.“You’re tuning in to watch it and I think that’s the joy of the competition; everyone still loves to watch that competition and I think that’s why it’s so big.“To us as a club it’s huge for us and we know how big it is for our fans as well. All we want to do is bring them on an enjoyable journey in this competition. The dream is to go the whole way and it starts on Saturday.”[ Simon Zebo: Joe Schmidt’s double standards drove me mental, made me dislike the Irish campOpens in new window ]To that end, Munster haven’t earned a home knock-out tie in the last four seasons and last season went out in the pool stages after three defeats before a tame Challenge Cup Round of 16 loss in Exeter, who they last hosted at Thomond Park in 2021-22 before a quarter-final exit in a goal-kicking competition against Toulouse in the Aviva.“I’ve been injured as well both times we’ve had knock-out games at home. I’d love to get it, be here, knock-out, full crowd. It’d be some buzz and you can feel it all around. That’s what we’ll be striving towards and, as I said, it starts Saturday which is a huge game.“It’s class to play in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and hopefully in front of a full Munster crowd again.”