An Under 20 Grand Slammer in 2016, he has progressed to help Wales win a senior clean sweep in 2019, win a second Championship in 2021, reach a semi-final and quarter-final at two World Cups and play in the first Welsh team to win against the Springboks in South Africa.
All this and he is still only 28. With 53 caps to his name he is now the man the youngsters look up to and he is stepping up to his new role.
“We’ve been close in our two games to date and they could have gone either way. We could have been sitting here with two wins, but they have been two losses,” said Beard.
“The squad is disappointed, but we’re back on the horse this week trying to improve going into Ireland next week. We’ve had two great 40-minute performances in each game – the second half against Scotland, when we scored four tries, and the first half against England, when he scored twice.
“We are creating chances and not too far away from getting the perfect performance. We’re a young squad but Daf Jenkins hit the nail on the head when he said we can’t use that as an excuse – if you are good enough, you’re old enough.
“If we keep putting in these performances, and get better week by week, tournament by tournament, I’m sure we’re going to be a hell of a team.”
Having lost six line-outs in the game against the Scots, and a further two at Twickenham against England, the Welsh line-out could be considered a bit of an Achilles heel – especially against an Irish side that was 100% perfect in that phase against both France and Italy.
“In the first half against Scotland we were pretty poor with our lineout attack. When it improved in the second half we scored two maul tries,” added Beard.
“In the first half against England our lineout was awesome, and we had that penalty try. Traditionally, we are always the same when we come into Wales squads – for some reason we always start a bit wobbly.
“Our maul is a weapon and over the last 12 months we have been one of the best teams out there. We know when we get our stuff right, we’re a tough pack to beat and it’s about getting more consistency.
“It’s not the finished article and hopefully we can bring that against Ireland. Physicality is going to be one of the key components of that game.
“You see the way Ireland play their rugby – it’s all about speed, winning collisions, and the breakdown. Defensively we have to match up with that physical battle and in attack it’s about being clinical and physical.
“Ireland are a team that are playing with confidence, and they gel. It helps when a lot of them play club rugby together, but we’re excited to get stuck into them.
“It’ll be a tough game but it’s one we’re looking forward to. The Six Nations is the biggest tournament in the world and playing in some of these big stadiums can be daunting.”
Wales haven’t won a Six Nations game at the Aviva Stadium since 2012 and Beard has yet to taste success at the home of Irish rugby after four previous visits.
“I’ve played a lot of rugby against James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne, and now Joe McCarthy has burst onto the scene. It will be a tough challenge but it’s a tough challenge the Welsh boys will love, and we can’t wait to get out there,” he said.
“We’re developing our line-out defence and we want to get more steals. We put England under a lot of pressure last weekend, and we’ll have a different bag of tricks in our armory for Ireland.“They have a 100% record after the first two games, so it will be a tough challenge but we’re looking forward to it.”
