Tadhg Furlong had less than 20 Ireland caps when he was selected by Warren Gatland for The British & Irish Lions but such is the young prop’s quality, he started every Test.
The 24-year-old made his Lions debut off the bench against the New Zealand Barbarians before starting against the Crusaders and the Maori All Blacks.
Impressive front row performances alongside Mako Vunipola and Jamie George earned the tight-head prop a Test spot as he completed 338 minutes in total during the Tour.
Furlong fully embraced the Lions spirit admitting he learned plenty during the Tour from his fellow, often more experienced, front row forwards.
It’s been a pleasure to play with these gents! @lionsofficial #frontrowunion #787 #819 #818 pic.twitter.com/9aIlFNBN4d
— Tadhg Furlong (@tadhgfurlong) July 8, 2017
“I think I’ve learned a hell of a lot, been exposed to different coaching methods, players, ideas around scrum and general field,” he said.
And it wasn’t just on the training field that Furlong was soaking things in like a sponge, he also enjoyed his time away from the pressures of Test match rugby.
“I’d struggle to pick out one moment, I’d need to sit down and think about it,” he added.
“I thoroughly enjoyed Queenstown at the start of this week, being on a Lions tour, it’s intensive and there’s lots of pressure on you since selection day, to get there and wipe rugby off your mind after an extremely long season was really good.”
