Finlay Bealham

Finlay Bealham (born 1991) is an Australian-born rugby union player. He primarily plays as a prop, and can play at both tighthead and loosehead prop. Bealham currently plays for Irish provincial team Connacht Rugby in the Pro12 league. Bealham is qualified to play for Ireland through his grandmother, who is from Enniskillen in Northern Ireland.^[1]

Rugby Career

Club

Bealham moved to Ireland in 2010 and initially played in his grandmother's native province of Ulster with the amateur side, Belfast Harlequins.^[2] Following the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship, he was offered a place in the academy of Connacht, another province. Moving to the new province also meant moving clubs, with Bealham joining Galway Corinthians. Bealham was promoted from the sub-academy to the full academy ahead of the 2012–13 season.^[3]

While in the academy Bealham played for the province's second tier side, the Connacht Eagles. Bealham made his debut for Connacht in the 2013–14 Pro12 on 23 February 2014. He came on from the bench away to Italian side Zebre, replacing Denis Buckley at loosehead on the 74 minute mark.^[4] Bealham went on to make a further five replacement appearances in the Pro12 that season.^[5] In April 2014, it was announced that Bealham had signed a professional contract with the province to last until summer 2015, making him a full member of Connacht's senior squad.^[6]

International

After becoming aware of his qualification to play for Ireland, Bealham became involved in the country's youth set-up through the Irish Exiles program. Having previously represented the Australia Schools 'A' side against New Zealand in 2009, he made his debut for Ireland Under-20s against Italy in the 2011 U20 Six Nations.^[7] Later that year, Bealham was part of the Irish squad for the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship.^[2] He made a total of four appearances for the side, three of these coming as a replacement.^[8]

References