The Leinster forward featured in all five of Ireland’s games and made a big impact.
WITH BACK-TO-BACK Six Nations titles in the bag, it will be fascinating to see how Andy Farrell’s Ireland team evolves over the next year as they face into a highly challenging fixture list.
The 6’6″, 104kg Dubliner is known for his athleticism and used his wide skillset to make a big impact off the bench throughout the tournament. He was strong on the defensive side too, disrupting this France lineout with the clock in the red in Marseille before Ireland get in to turnover the ball and end the game, sealing a famous win.
One of his first involvements was this tackle on England fullback George Furbank. Baird shows good technique to get in low on Furbank, allowing Rónan Kelleher and Andrew Porter move in to win a penalty. He then got back to his feet to make the final carry of the game, doing well to get past the first tackle before presenting clean ball to Conor Murray, who duly ends the game.
After making significant ground, Baird again uses his footwork to earn some extra yards rather than carrying into contact – resulting in a 35-metre territory gain for Ireland. Ireland manage to keep possession and just 10 seconds after that lung-busting effort, Baird is on hand to punch through again.
The score was crossed off due to a knock-on from Henshaw, shown below, but Baird reacts well to keep the move alive.
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