Ireland star named British and Irish Lions Player of the Series after Finn Russell confusion
British and Irish Lions forward Tadhg Beirne winning Player of the Series
British and Irish Lions forward Tadhg Beirne has been named Player of the Series, following the tourists’ 2-1 series victory.
The imposing Irish international started in all three Tests against the Wallabies, scoring a crucial try in Test Two in Melbourne along the way.
Beirne has also featured in five of the past six Lions Tests, previously making two appearances of the bench in the 2021 tour of South Africa.
Tadhg Beirne named Lions’ Player of the Series
The two-time tourist now joins a prestigious list of previous Lions Player of the Series, alongside Maro Itoje, Jonathan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and Jamie Roberts.
“The medal is special, and the series win is special as well and we got to celebrate that last week,” Beirne told Sky Sports on his personal award as well as the series victory. “But we have to try and ignore the fact that we lost today. The goal was to win today.
“Credit to Australia,” he added. “They took it to us in this weather, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to come away with the win.
“Some of our defensive sets were excellent out there, but we kept giving them more opportunities with penalties. It wasn’t that the energy wasn’t there, it was just errors, accuracy and discipline that cost us today.”
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Reflecting on the tour as a whole, Beirne said he will “only look back with fond memories”.
“We still won the series, and that’s all that matters. There are some special characters in there; it’s so funny when you get to know people and their different quirks, but we’ve loved every minute of this.”
He added: “Everyone has got on unbelievably well. It’s a bit bittersweet tonight, we’ll celebrate this but then we’ll never be in a changing room together again. I’ll only look back on this with fond memories.”
Prior to Beirne’s award, which was announced prior to the official trophy presentation, Finn Russell was named title sponsor Howden’s Player of the Series, after also starting in all three Tests matches.
