Ireland’s Australian-born prop Finlay Bealham had an “emotional” reunion with his parents for the first time in over two years after scoring a try at Twickenham.
The 30-year-old came off the bench to nail Ireland’s bonus point-clinching fourth try in a 32-15 win over England on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
Watching among 82,000 fans in the stands were his parents Andrea and Roy, who had flown over from Canberra, and had not seen their son since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Finlay Bealham told Irish reporters of his delight at having “my parents there, who I hadn’t seen for the last two and half years with COVID”.
“I got to meet them after the game in the crowd, and it was a really emotional moment for us, that I hadn’t seen them in the last two and half years,” he said.
“It was really special for me. It’s a day that my family won’t forget.”
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Bealham moved to Northern Ireland – where his grandmother was born – in 2010 after missing out on the Brumbies academy in Canberra.
He has been a professional frontrower since 2014 for Connacht, where he plays alongside Kiwi midfielder and Ireland test teammate Bundee Aki.
New Zealand coach Joe Schmidt gave Bealham his first Ireland test cap, against Italy in 2016.
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His opportunities have been limited due to Ireland’s propping depth with players of the calibre of Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter, Cian Healy and Dave Kilcoyne, but Bealham, who can play both sides of the scrum, has made 22 appearances and scored three tries.
Bealham is one of six Ireland squad members from Australasia. Aki, wing James Lowe, halfback Jamison Gibson-Park – the man of the match against England – and reserve flyhalf Joey Carbery were born in New Zealand while Bealham and wing Mack Hansen are Australian.
Bealham praised Lowe for his part in the prop’s 76th minute try.
“It was brilliant to get on and unreal to score, thanks to James Lowe’s carry. It was a lovely team try,” he said.
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– This article originally appeared on stuff.co.nz and is reproduced with permission