There is power… and then there is Tadhg Furlong.
If Irish fans were beginning to think that they’ve uncovered a monster of a prop, their suspicions were vindicated and then some on Saturday as that same beast ran loose around Dublin causing mass destruction to everything in its path.
There were grievances, there was misfortune and there was regret about Ireland’s 21-9 defeat in their rematch with New Zealand but there was also pure honesty and there were men – possessed men – like Tadhg Furlong who left everything out there.
When you watch someone like the Wexford native plough around rugby pitches and hammer into bodies as if the fate of his country depended on it, win or lose it is inspiring.
In Chicago, Furlong scaled the length of Soldier Field to put Ben Smith on his arse when no-one else could.
He gives you so much more than just your average prop and, at 24, he is ready to lead Ireland for the next decade.
If his tackling is one thing and a mighty thing, his ball-carrying is on another level again – just ask Brodie Retallick and Kieran Read.
The All Blacks pair had fine games themselves but when you leave yourself open to Tadhg Furlong’s right arm, you’re only asking for trouble. When you stand in his way, you have no-one else to blame but yourself.
During the first half, as Ireland trailed New Zealand from early on and were being kept at bay in their advances, Furlong took the fight to the black jerseys and it was devastating.
Retallick tried to stop him and one of the best locks in the world was left on his arse.
Read tried to stop him and the considerable number eight was flung straight to the turf like a rag doll.
Just freak power from Tadhg Furlong #SitDownLads #IREvNZL pic.twitter.com/lssi6Df8Cm
— Three Red Kings (@threeredkings) November 19, 2016
It was the sort of power and aggression that we’re not used to seeing from men – not humans anyway. But it was the sort of fearless play that’s so typical of Tadhg Furlong and summed him up in three jaw-dropping evaded evaded tackles.
Relentless. Fearless. Unstoppable.
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