They may not be able to pronounce his name correctly just yet but Tadhg Furlong is getting the seal of approval from two fellow Lions forwards.
The Leinster tighthead prop will compete with Dan Cole for a starting berth in the Test side against New Zealand and possibly pack down in front of George Kruis.
Both England forwards have been impressed with what they’ve seen of the 24-year-old to date.
"He’s been brilliant for Ireland this year," said Leicester Tiger Cole. "Everyone’s seen that big New Zealand victory [in November].
"He’s played phenomenally well for Leinster and Ireland in the [Six Nations].
"You notice [props] because when you’re with England you have a look at other props and, in general, when you’re a front row forward, you get to know what’s going on, especially in the northern hemisphere game."
Saracens second row Kruis, who is a room-mate of the Wexford native in the Carton House camp this week, was also quick to praise Furlong.
"He’s got a big boot," said Kruis, who like Furlong is on his first Lions tour.
"I like the way he scrums. It’s a classic example of teams doing different things and trying to get on the same wavelength as each other.
"My bind has to be different for him than other props I’ve worked with in the past, just ironing out a few things."
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While they are on the way to learning the same on-field lingo, Furlong revealed some of the efforts to pronounce his name were less than fluent.
"Ah sure it depends," Furlong joked, "some of lads asked me up front, ‘how do you pronounce it?’
"Some are just saying, ‘howya, big fellow’.
"Some are making bad attempts – ‘Tadge’, ‘Tog’, ‘Tad’. ‘Tad’s been probably the most common."
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