Adam Beard's mother once told a tale about how her son chose the wrong sport as a youngster.
A number of opponents on the football pitch might be queuing up to agree.
For Beard the footballer seemed intent on pushing back the boundaries in the round-ball game and incorporating a spot of wrestling into his play. Not so much Bend it like Beckham as bash ’em like Beard.
“My mother tells a story about how I used to grab boys and throw them about,” he related in an interview with Rugby World of his time playing football. “The coaches said: “Wrong sport — take him to rugby.”
He hasn’t looked back.
This week, the 26-year-old was named Wales vice-captain for the Six Nations, his appointment crowning an astonishing 15 months that first saw him dropped from the national squad completely, then regain his place, then help his country to the 2021 Six Nations title, then win a Test cap with the Lions and now be granted a position of official responsibility within the Welsh set-up run by Wayne Pivac.
Some are even looking to the future and talking about Beard as long-term Wales captain after the current batch of 30-somethings in Pivac's squad head off into the sunset. Little wonder, too, after the character he’s shown over the past year.
His head coach at the Ospreys, Toby Booth, says: “A year or so ago he was left out by Wales and given things to work on.
“He was around a new environment at the Ospreys and he reflected, acted and improved his performance to a level where he’s one of the first names on the team-sheet and has been given a leadership role.
“Ultimately, Adam’s achieved this through what he’s done.
“Our part is to create an environment to help him and other players keep improving and become the best version of themselves they can be.
“Adam’s a good advert for what everyone’s done in that respect but most of all he’s a good advert for what he’s done.”
Booth and his coaches do deserve credit, though. Just as they did with George North after he found himself out of favour in Wales selection, those running the show in Llandarcy put an arm around the dropped player and reinforced the positives.
The Wales vice-captaincy is reward for the heightened maturity Beard has displayed as well as his aptitude for leadership, with the Birchgrove product felt to have made a good fist of skippering his region earlier this month, having previously led the forwards in the absence of Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric.
Of the job of second in command with Wales, he said: “It feels great and is a massive honour, something I did not expect this early.
“You would never turn down the opportunity to be vice-captain of your country. It is a proud moment for my family and for myself, but it not going to change me as a player. We have a new captain in Biggs (Dan Biggar), who is a quality player, has so much experience and is a great leader and somebody who puts his heart on the line.
“I am still going to lead the set-piece and do my job. I would like to say I am somebody who leads with action rather than words.”
But Beard’s journey from outcast to officer class is a tale worth retelling. He could easily have let the initial disappointment of being axed lock him into a downward spiral. Instead, he used his rejection as the spur to make himself a better player. What could have been a bleak period in his career proved anything but.
“It has been a positive year,” said Beard.
“That said, the initial feeling was disappointment — I was gutted. I had been a regular in the campaigns with the previous coaches, so it hit home pretty hard.
“It was about coming back to the Ospreys and proving a point and making sure my performances were up to scratch.
“There are great people at the region who gave me the confidence to work on the areas of my game the Wales coaches told me to work on.
“It was about achieving consistent performances, not sulking or dwelling on the disappointment. I just had to work hard to put my hand up and get back into the squad.”
And those predictions of Beard fitting the bill as a future Wales captain — does he fancy the job post-2023? “I have to be playing well to win selection first,” he said.
“Then it’s up to the coaches who they pick in the role.
“If I was lucky enough to be selected as captain, it would be a great honour and something I would not turn down.”
All that’s for the future. Right now, Beard is happy with the present, as evidenced by his signing a fresh three-year contract with the Ospreys this week.
The south-west Wales region are fortunate to have the homegrown product who grew up watching them in their pomp.
“It was a pretty easy decision to sign,” he said. “I am a local lad who grew up in the area. I watched the Ospreys with my Dad and my brother, so I have always been a supporter.
“I remember the galacticos, all the big names when they were winning a lot of silverware. I remember that fondly, watching Alun Wyn, Ian Evans and Ian Gough, quality second-rows and great players to look up to. It’s also been a great privilege to play alongside Alun Wyn.
“ I have come through the academy system and I am Ospreys through and through. I have a young family now, so it was important to get a bit of security and we love living in the area.
“On the rugby front, we have a good coaching set-up at the region to give the players guidance and show us a path we want to go down. It’s exciting and we have a mix of young boys who want to push for positions but also experienced guys who have been there and done it and are role models for everybody. We have something exciting going on.”
Beard deserves what comes his way.
Finding his way back from the wilderness with Wales required a lot of effort and belief.
It says much for him that he wasn’t found wanting.
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