Tadhg Beirne

Tadhg Gerard Beirne (/ˈtaɪɡ ˈbɜːrn/; born 8 January 1992) is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a lock for United Rugby Championship club Munster, where he is the club captain, and the Ireland national team.

Beirne graduated through the Leinster academy and made his senior debut from the bench against the Cardiff Blues on 12 September 2015. Beirne made a further three appearances for Leinster, playing twice against Dragons and once against Scarlets, a team he would later go on to play for. All of these appearances came off the bench. Beirne spent most of his career at Leinster playing for their A team and he earned 10 caps for them, making 9 appearances in the British and Irish Cup. Beirne was then released by Leinster.

It was announced on 28 June 2016 that Beirne had moved to Scarlets. Beirne made his Scarlets debut off the bench in the opening game of the season, a loss against Munster. He then played a massive role in Scarlets successful 2016–17 season, in which they beat Munster 46–22 in the 2017 Pro12 Grand Final to win their first silverware since the 2003–04 season.

In February 2025, Beirne revealed his original intention was to stay with the Scarlets beyond the 2017–18 season for at least an additional year after signalling this intention to the management. Staying with the club for this extended period would have also allowed him to play for the Wales national team under the residency ruling. However, after the member of staff responsible for contracts with the club was away on a skiing holiday during the negotiation stage, Munster used the delay to make their own offer to Beirne which he accepted.

In October 2017, Munster announced the signing of Beirne on a two-year contract, which began at the start of the 2018–19 season. Beirne was named the Guinness Players' Player of the Season when the 2017–18 Pro14 awards were announced in August 2018. He made his Munster debut on 7 September 2018, coming on as a replacement for Dave O'Callaghan in the province's 2018–19 Pro14 fixture against Glasgow Warriors. Beirne made his first start for Munster on 14 September 2018, doing so in their 49–13 win against Ospreys in Irish Independent Park.

Beirne scored his first try for Munster in the province's 30–22 defeat at the hands of Leinster on 6 October 2018. Beirne made his Champions Cup debut for Munster on 13 October 2018, earning the Man-of-the-Match in the province's opening 2018–19 pool 2 fixture against English side Exeter Chiefs, which ended in a 10–10 draw in Sandy Park. He was Man-of-the-Match in Munster's 26–17 win against Leinster on 29 December 2018 and in their 9–7 win against Exeter Chiefs in round 6 of the Champions Cup on 19 January 2019, a result the ensured Munster advanced to a record 18th Champions Cup quarter-final.

Beirne signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in May 2019. He was named in the 2018–19 Pro14 Dream Team when it was announced in May 2019, his second such accolade, having also been named in the 2017–18 Pro14 Dream Team whilst a Scarlets player. Beirne suffered a sustained a fractured ankle in Munster's 15–6 defeat away to English side Saracens in round 4 of the 2019–20 Champions Cup on 14 December 2019, and subsequently had to undergo surgery for the injury in January 2020. Beirne made his comeback from the injury in Munster's 2019–20 Pro14 round 15 fixture against Connacht on 30 August 2020, scoring a try and winning the Man-of-the-Match award in Munster's 49–12 victory.

When regular captain Peter O'Mahony was injured in the warm-up ahead of Munster's 2021–22 United Rugby Championship round 10 fixture at home to provincial rivals Ulster on 8 January 2022, Beirne, who had originally been named on the bench, was promoted to the starting XV in O'Mahony's place and also to the captaincy, leading Munster for the first time and earning the player of the match award in the 18–13 win. Beirne signed a new three-year central contract with Munster and the IRFU in February 2022, a deal that will see him remain with the province until at least July 2025.