It would be a tough afternoon for the Welsh as they succumbed to the power of the double Grand Slam chasing Irish who would run in four tries to seal a bonus point win.
Whilst Wales would fall short in their quest to overcome a powerful and experienced Irish side yesterday afternoon, Beard feels his teammates will come back stronger for the experience.
Part of the Grand Slam team of 2019 and Championship win of 2021, 28-year-old Beard is one of the more experienced players within the Welsh side with 51 caps to his name and is one of the leaders in Gatland’s dressing room.
Following the retirement and unavailability of injuries to the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Tomas Francis and Taulupe Faletau, Beard has very quickly moved to the vocal forefront.
Having seen the good and the bad times in recent years, Beard knows what it takes to be successful in international rugby having also been part of both the World Cup semi-final side in 2019 and the side that reached last year’s quarter-finals.
“You just have to look how clinical they [Ireland] are. They are a squad that has probably been together now for two or three years, there haven’t been too many changes,” said Beard.
“We have a new-look squad, but what I can promise you is that Wales have a squad that are hungry and are working hard for each other.
“We are not satisfied with these losses. When we get back to training, we will be critical within ourselves.
“We will look to get a reaction against France and come back fighting hard.
“It is probably the intensity of international rugby [that has been learned most]. There are a lot of new caps within the squad and boys with a lot of inexperience.
“The pace, the physicality and the thinking on the ball that comes with international rugby you will learn with experience. There are not many that come into an international squad and click straight away.
“It takes a bit of time in the process, and we are working hard at that. I’m sure in 12 to 18 months time we are going to be a very good side.
“We want the victories now though and were not satisfied, so we are going to keep working hard to get them in the last two games.”
[Lead image: Mike Egerton/PA]
