'Calling for your head' - Tadhg Beirne admits he felt pressure in first British & Irish Lions Test against Australia
Published 20/07/2025 at 21:50 GMT+1
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The British & Irish Lions began their series of Test matches against Australia with a hard-earned win on Saturday. Tadhg Beirne was named player of the match, but he revealed some apprehension before the first Test, admitting he was under pressure after criticism for his performances previously in the summer tour. Beirne made 23 tackles in the Lions' 27-19 win.
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Tadhg Beirne admitted he felt under pressure before the British and Irish Lions' first Test against Australia on Saturday.
An impressive performance from Andy Farrell's side led to a 27-19 win in Brisbane, with Beirne named player of the match.
But the Ireland flanker acknowledged a big performance was necessary to silence his doubters, following some below-par displays earlier in the tour.
"I felt the pressure. I’m not going to lie, I did feel the pressure this week," Beirne said. "There are some things you can’t shy away from.
"A lot of people calling for your head out there. I know my performances to this date weren’t up to par by my standards. So to be in this team, Faz [Farrell] has put a lot of trust in me and it was an honour to be selected.
"I had to put in a performance. All of us did. Everyone around me put in great performances and the best part about it was that we were able to make each other look good, particularly for the first half.
"That last quarter we probably fell off a bit and we will need to look into that to go better."
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Asked what Farrell said before the match, Beirne added: "Look, Andy had a quiet word with the back row, the captains, and he said a few things to us. He put a little bit of pressure on us without putting pressure on us, as Andy does.
"But it gives you motivation, and it gives you a little bit of realisation as to where his head's at and the opportunity that's being presented to us. So those words certainly sat with me for the 24 hours leading up to the game.
"I knew how important this game was and not just because of what he said, but it's also a massively important game because each week is the biggest game of your career on these tours.
"I'm 33 now, I'm not going to be on another Lions tour, let's be realistic, so these are special moments. These are huge games and I want to be involved in all of them, so I knew how important this game was and hopefully, I've done enough to help this team win and hopefully be selected next week."
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Beirne made 23 tackles to help the Lions to victory, with tries from Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Curry and Dan Sheehan.
And Farrell praised his "big-game players" for stepping up.
"You see it time and time again," he said. "When it really matters, big-game players, that's what they do, they turn up, they trust themselves to be able to perform on the big stage. It's not an easy thing to do, I suppose it comes with a little bit of experience and they deliver it again.
"We have conversations of ‘why do you think you're selected? and what is it that you're going to bring to the team performance?’ To a man they're unbelievably honest. They're men of their word and that's what they delivered."
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