‘It’s A Massive Moment In My Career’ – Sheehan On Captaining Ireland

From the outside looking in, Sheehan did not appear an obvious candidate to replace the injured Caelan Doris as Ireland captain in this middle round of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations.

Explaining the decision to opt for the hooker over more experienced options, Ireland’s interim head coach Simon Easterby emphasised that it is a ‘good time for Dan to grow that leadership within the group, grow another player to experience something a little bit different around the week and how he handles that’.

Sheehan captained Leinster for the second time on his return from an ACL injury last month, delivering a two-try player-of-the-match performance against the DHL Stormers at Irish Rugby HQ.

It is those talismanic traits that have convinced the national coaches he is ready to lead from the front against Wales, but captaining his country seemed something of a pipe dream when the Dubliner was growing up as a sports-mad child.

“It’s brilliant,” Sheehan told Irish Rugby TV as news of his captaincy nod was made public. “It’s something I probably, as a kid, never thought I had the capabilities (for).

“Probably always a bit reserved as a child, and only in the last few years really grown the sort of leadership skills within both Leinster and Ireland.

“So it was nice to get a taste of it back in Leinster a couple of weeks ago, but a new challenge this week is nice.”

According to Easterby, the 26-year-old is well suited to the role given he has been ‘part of the leadership group for a good while’ with the back-to-back Six Nations champions, and exerts ‘a lot of influence in the way he plays’.

That was very much the case when he made an explosive return in the green jersey against England, gleefully grabbing the bonus point try during a punchy 30-minute display on the Six Nations’ opening weekend.

Jack Conan, a fellow replacement that day, was delighted to see Sheehan shine on his comeback from a long injury lay-off, particularly as he is ‘so well liked and loved within the squad because of the quality of the man that he is’.

Getting the opportunity to lead both his province and country has come at a good time for the 2022 World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year nominee, who agreed: “It’s been a great last couple of weeks. It’s exactly what I missed for the six months that I was out.

Just to come back into Leinster, and the last two Ireland games (against England and Scotland), has been exactly what I’ve been dreaming of over the last six months.

“Everything has gone really well. The body feels great, and it’s nice to be sort of given the trust to lead Leinster and then this week to lead Ireland for the first time.

“I’m in a really happy place and I feel comfortable with my role in the team. It’s nice to be back in.”

It may be a much-changed matchday squad heading to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium this weekend, but Sheehan can count on the backing of Peter O’Mahony and James Ryan, who have both captained Ireland in recent seasons, and a number of other players who have skippered their provinces.

Explaining that Doris and former captain Jonathan Sexton, who is in camp as a consultant coach, have also been imparting advice, he said: “You know we have a lot of big leaders, role models in this group, which makes my job (as captain) really easy, so it’s nice to get this week underway.

“It’s nice to chat to Caelan. We have Johnny (Sexton) in camp as well, and obviously Pete. They have been the last three (captains), so got a few little tips off them but I don’t want to try to replicate them, I want to make sure that I stay to myself and stay to who I am.

“That’s how I’ve sort of approached the week, and it’s been really nice to take hold of a week and make sure I’m thinking about other things and how the week is going. I’ve enjoyed it so far.”

Sheehan’s family have a long association with rugby. His maternal grandfather, Denis Shaw, played as a prop for Clontarf and Leinster in the 1950s, and his father Barry lined out at lock for both Old Belvedere and UCD. The close ties with ‘Collidge’ continue up to this day.

Barry is President of UCD RFC for 2024/25, and his youngest son, Bobby, captained the students for two seasons. The hooker/number 8 made his Ireland Club XV debut last year, and has played for UCD alongside Gus McCarthy, who is on Ireland’s bench for the Wales game, and Diarmuid Mangan, who had his first Ireland senior call-up this week.

During his time out while recovering from his cruciate injury, Dan enjoyed supporting Bobby at UCD matches, reconnecting with his All-Ireland League Saturdays, and a competition he graced in the colours of both Dublin University and Lansdowne.

The beaming smiles of his girlfriend Katherine, a talented hockey player with UCD, and his family members after the win over England showed how much it meant to them to see him back in action with Ireland. Wales week is shaping up to be even more memorable for them.

“It was really nice telling my parents and family on Monday when I found out (about the captaincy). They’re thrilled for me, and it’s a massive moment for me in my career,” added Sheehan, who first played rugby with the Bective Rangers minis, and was a Leinster Schools Senior Cup semi-finalist with Clongowes Wood College in 2016.

“I’ve kind of been taking it day by day. I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. On the Monday I found out, I was probably in a small bit of shock, but over the last two days, I’ve sort of found myself again and gone into the rhythm of things.

“Taking it in my stride and doing it my way, and my way is probably a bit laid back and a bit chilled, so I’m going to try to stick to that and let things happen for me.”