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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Tadhg Furlong wants to make third Lions Test against Australia night to remember
Tadhg Furlong is determined to make Saturday's third Test against Australia a night to remember knowing it will almost certainly be his farewell appearance for the British and Irish Lions. While Furlong has refused to definitively rule himself out of a fourth tour, he accepts the Accor Stadium showdown is likely to be the final stop on a Lions odyssey that will be headlined by his nine consecutive Test starts. When it was pointed out to him he will be 36 years old for the next tour to New Zealand, the Ireland prop replied: 'Just about to turn 37. Could you imagine? 'My motivation is obvious. I'm not going to say I won't….I probably won't play for the Lions again. 'The Lions have been very good to me. They've been very good to my career. You want to play well. 'I'm kind of leaving a lot of that emotional stuff behind, without being clinical about it. You want to give the best version of yourself to it. 'Sometimes the last memory is the lasting memory you have in a jersey. I want it to be a good one.' Only seven other players have made nine successive Test starts and Furlong is the second to reach that mark in the professional era, a startling achievement for a tighthead who will return home as a Lions great. Willie John McBride heads the list with 15. 'It wasn't something I overly thought of or knew about. I just wanted to try to get on tour and play rugby and see where it got me,' Furlong said. 'It's class to be up there. When I was young and you think of Lions, you don't see yourself there to be mentioned in the same breath as them – and I probably feel the same way now.' Furlong's first tour was as a 24-year-old to New Zealand in 2017 and his development as a player in the intervening years has been significant. 'The game has changed, definitely. Rugby was so different back then. You're around the corner, you're just working hard and then the game got into one-out carriers and I found my mould there,' he said. 'Then the game changed to more of a pass and options at the line and that changed my game. At the minute it's changed into a hybrid of all of them at the minute. You try to change your game as the game changes.' The series was won with a game to spare following last Saturday's 29-26 victory in Melbourne, posting the first successful tour since the 2013 visit to Australia. 'It's such a hard thing to do and history tells you that. When you play for the Lions, you understand why, in terms of moulding everyone together and trying to get them on the same track, and the schedule and travel,' Furlong said. 'As an achievement, as a team, there's not a massive body of work. You have eight weeks of work to show for it. It's probably one of the more satisfying achievements that I've been a part of.'
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Tadhg Furlong: ‘Sometimes the last memory is the lasting memory you have in a jersey - I want it to be a good one'
It is eight years and five weeks since Tadhg Furlong was first named as a British and Irish Lions Test starter; nine Tests across three countries later, the tighthead prop is still going strong. Only four men have ever made more consecutive starts in the famous red shirt: Willie John McBride (15), Graham Price (12), Tony O'Reilly and RH Williams (both 10). It appears unlikely that Furlong will make it to double figures given how tough a life at the front row coal face can be but an increasingly creaking body has come good again on this tour. Perhaps it is luck, perhaps something more, but through all of the fluctuations in form and fitness that come with being an international prop, Furlong has always seemed to peak at the right time come this quadrennial assembly. 'Lions tours are some of the best days of your career and I'm delighted to be able to go again,' he says ahead of the third Test in Sydney. 'How does it compare to 2017? I was probably young and making my way through it all and learning it all. [Warren Gatland] kind of backed me really. He backed Mako, myself and Jamie George through each of the Saturdays. I felt pressure by it, in a rugby country like New Zealand, there was pressure. I probably didn't enjoy it socially as much as I should have, looking back. 'I think it's all part of the journey. Whereas this one, it's a great group of lads. I suppose I'm very familiar with the coaches. You feel more at ease. Obviously, I've gone on two and been around rugby a lot more. You feel more belonging straight from the start.' There have been plenty of times over the last 12 months where others have questioned if Furlong would make this trip, but his own belief never wavered. His involvement across Ireland's November and Six Nations campaigns amounted to 34 minutes off the bench against Italy and yet there appeared little doubt that there was sufficient credit in the bank for him to tour when the time came for Andy Farrell to select his squad. England's Will Stuart had a standout Six Nations, fellow Irishman Finlay Bealham an impressive tour, but come the first Test squad naming, Farrell trusted in a figure who had been there and done it before. The rhythm of a Lions tour has suited Furlong, who cannot train fully in every session across a week – though has avoided the debilitating issues others in his position can be ailed by. 'I've never really had a long-term injury, per se', he explains. 'I've had very healthy joints, knees, backs, necks. I've avoided all those things throughout my career, so I am very fortunate. I was very fortunate to get breaks when I got breaks as a young fella. 'I obviously came up through a good tutelage of the older lads in Leinster and Ireland, but I kind of got breaks. That breakthrough year I had in 2016/17, kind of came in time with a Lions tour, which was pure fortune.' Furlong has, though, moved with the times in an era in which front rowers have had to be more than just stable set-piece operators. 'The game has changed, definitely,' he admits. 'Look, rugby was so different back [when I started]. You're around the corner, you're just working hard and then the game kind of got into one-out carriers and I found my mould there. 'Then the game changed to more of a pass and options at the line and it kind of changed my game and it's changed in a way to a hybrid of all of them at the minute, I feel. So, you try to change your game as the game changes.' A winning series is a first for Furlong, who has now experienced all three series results after completing the set of touring destinations. Any idea of the Lions not being up for what is, effectively, a dead rubber in Sydney is quickly dismissed by the tighthead. 'It's not hard to motivate yourself. My motivation is obvious. I'm not going to say I won't. I probably won't. I probably won't play for the Lions again. It's been very good to me. It's been very good to my career. You want to play well in it. 'I'm kind of leaving a lot of that emotional stuff behind us. Without being clinical about it. You want to give the best version of yourself to it. Sometimes the last memory is the lasting memory you have in a jersey. I want it to be a good one.'
BreakingNews.ie
2 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Tadhg Furlong wants to make third Lions Test against Australia night to remember
Tadhg Furlong is determined to make Saturday's third Test against Australia a night to remember knowing it will almost certainly be his farewell appearance for the British and Irish Lions. While Furlong has refused to definitively rule himself out of a fourth tour, he accepts the Accor Stadium showdown is likely to be the final stop on a Lions odyssey that will be headlined by his nine consecutive Test starts. Advertisement When it was pointed out to him he will be 36 years old for the next tour to New Zealand, the Ireland prop replied: 'Just about to turn 37. Could you imagine? 'My motivation is obvious. I'm not going to say I won't….I probably won't play for the Lions again. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The British & Irish Lions (@britishandirishlions) 'The Lions have been very good to me. They've been very good to my career. You want to play well. 'I'm kind of leaving a lot of that emotional stuff behind, without being clinical about it. You want to give the best version of yourself to it. 'Sometimes the last memory is the lasting memory you have in a jersey. I want it to be a good one.' Advertisement Only seven other players have made nine successive Test starts and Furlong is the second to reach that mark in the professional era, a startling achievement for a tighthead who will return home as a Lions great. Willie John McBride heads the list with 15. 'It wasn't something I overly thought of or knew about. I just wanted to try to get on tour and play rugby and see where it got me,' Furlong said. 'It's class to be up there. When I was young and you think of Lions, you don't see yourself there to be mentioned in the same breath as them – and I probably feel the same way now.' Tadhg Furlong in action for the Lions (Robbie Stephenson/PA) Furlong's first tour was as a 24-year-old to New Zealand in 2017 and his development as a player in the intervening years has been significant. Advertisement 'The game has changed, definitely. Rugby was so different back then. You're around the corner, you're just working hard and then the game got into one-out carriers and I found my mould there,' he said. 'Then the game changed to more of a pass and options at the line and that changed my game. At the minute it's changed into a hybrid of all of them at the minute. You try to change your game as the game changes.' The series was won with a game to spare following last Saturday's 29-26 victory in Melbourne, posting the first successful tour since the 2013 visit to Australia. 'It's such a hard thing to do and history tells you that. When you play for the Lions, you understand why, in terms of moulding everyone together and trying to get them on the same track, and the schedule and travel,' Furlong said. Advertisement 'As an achievement, as a team, there's not a massive body of work. You have eight weeks of work to show for it. It's probably one of the more satisfying achievements that I've been a part of.'
