Garry Doyle

IT IS JUST OVER TWO years since Dan Sheehan made his Leinster debut, just over 12 months since he got his Irish one.

He has survived the cauldron of the Stade de France, won a series in New Zealand, played in a Champions Cup final and beaten the world champions since. Oh, and on Tuesday, he was shortlisted as one of World Rugby’s breakthrough players of the year.

It has been a meteoric rise but not – for those who have known him – a surprising one.

Here is Ireland No8 Caelan Doris speaking about Sheehan: “We have been playing together for a while now so I always knew he was capable of big moments.

“That’s always been there, his runs and his footwork, but I think all the smaller bits have grown quite a bit.

“He has become a lot more solid and developed in all areas from set piece, scrummaging, to defence. I’m living with Ronan Kelleher (Sheehan’s rival for the No2 jersey at Leinster and Ireland) so I have to give him a shout out as well – but we have two quality players.”

In fact Ireland have five impressive options at hooker. Rob Herring is vastly underrated, so too Connacht’s Dave Heffernan and that’s before we get to Tom Stewart, the young Ulster hooker, who may end up being the best of the lot.

Hard to believe then that post 2019, there was a genuine concern about whether Ireland could fill the void left by the retiring Rory Best.

“Around that time, I didn’t have an academy contract,” says Sheehan. “That was my focus and I think I did a good job playing it step by step.

“So I focused purely on trying to impress in Leinster and when that came about it was about trying to get into the senior team and I did a good year of just nailing the basics with Leinster and trying to build myself up (physically).

“From that aspect, it was a case of making sure I didn’t get too far ahead of myself. If I was to be looking at an Irish jersey at that stage, you would be jumping (a queue) inhabited by a lot of people. And I had no right to do so. Going step by step made sense.”

In any case Kelleher was always a step ahead. But then Kelleher got injured in the first half of the Six Nations clash between Ireland and France and a vacancy became available. Sheehan didn’t think twice about taking it.

Sheehan came of age against France in Paris. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

“Ronan’s an unbelievable player,” said Sheehan. “We probably play a quite similar style of game and the way we’ve been able to work together, train together has meant the two of us have been able to push each other really hard.

“I’d like to say that the two of us wouldn’t be here or at the standard we are at if we didn’t have each other because it is good competition. As well as that we are also best mates. I’m glad to have someone my age that I can bounce ideas off, who’s walking through the same door as me basically.”

When the door opened in February, Sheehan didn’t think twice about taking the opportunity. First there was a Triple Crown; then the series win over the All Blacks, finally the victory over the Springboks.

“It’s a squad effort. Faz (head coach Andy Farrell) would have always said if you’re first, second, third choice, fourth choice, you have to be ready to step up within a week.

“We talk about going into a World Cup; we’re probably going to need a squad of 50 players for this season. Depending on injuries, it could go down to third, fourth, fifth choice so that’s the sort of mindset I was in back then when I was trying to battle for a spot on the bench.

“It was making sure I was ready to step up if needed then Ro went down in the France game and from there on, I’ve felt comfortable, I felt like I had done the work, I felt like I had the right to be there. So it wasn’t too scary. I didn’t feel out of my depth. I felt very comfortable in the squad that I had around me and the preparation that was put in.”