Hooker Dan Sheehan has become a valuable weapon in the Ireland attack.
Ciarán Kennedy RUGBY IS ALWAYS evolving as a sport and more than ever, forwards find their roles expanding far beyond doing the dirty work before the backs strike.
Sheehan broke through at a time when his Leinster teammate Rónan Kelleher was making his own case at Test level. Andy Farrell first capped Sheehan in November 2021, more than 18 months after Kelleher had won his first caps off the bench in the 2020 Six Nations. “I was talking to Jason Cowman around his physical stuff in the gym and he just said he’s a machine,” says Ireland scrum coach, John Fogarty.
“He has his areas where he’s working on, like any of the players, but he’s delivering for the team in lots of areas. You could call Dan world class at the moment in how he’s delivering.” Sheehan is a strong, confident ball-carrier, and his sharp footwork makes it difficult for defences to read his carries – the below example from the second round win over Italy showing Sheehan spin around the first tackle before three Italian defenders manage to ground him.
Some of his defensive work has been more subtle – such as this example against Wales, where Sheehan steps across to screen Nick Tompkins and allow Gibson-Park gather a Tomos Williams chip. Sheehan has scored four tries across three games, leaving him just one short of the tournament’s top try-scorer, Scotland winger Duhan van der Merwe – who has played 65 minutes more than Sheehan.After another clean lineout throw, France stay on the deck and Joe McCarthy comfortably wins possession in the air. Sheehan then quickly joins the maul and Ireland immediately punch forward before Sheehan breaks off to score Ireland’s third try of the game.
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