22-YEAR-OLD hooker Dan Sheehan will be following in family footsteps when he makes his Leinster debut against Zebre at the RDS this evening [KO 7.35pm eir Sport/TG4].
His late grandfather, Denis Shaw, played for the province back in the 1950s.
While Sheehan has been something of a slow-burner in breaking into senior professional rugby, there is excitement about his potential within the Leinster system.
For those seeing him play for the first time tonight, heโs very hard to miss. At 6ft 3ins, Sheehan is tall for a hooker and his 110kg bulk allows him to deliver real impact in the carry and tackle. Indeed, his size means he looks more like a back row.
As well as his obvious physical attributes and a confrontational streak, Leinster like his lineout throwing.
A former Clongowes Wood College student, there were initially some concerns over his height when it came to scrummaging but Sheehan has diligently and aggressively gone about proving any doubters wrong.
He was in the same age-grade group as current Leinster team-mate Ronan Kelleher coming through the ranks and he missed out on involvement in the U20 Six Nations in 2018 before an injury to Kelleher saw Sheehan called in for the World Rugby U20 Championship, where he played back-up to Munsterโs Diarmuid Barron.
Leinster themselves werenโt fully sure of Sheehanโs long-term potential at that point and he originally linked up with their academy on a short-term basis, but he was soon delivering outstanding performances for Tony Smeethโs Trinity in the AIL.
Sheehan โ whose father, Barry, played for UCD in the โ80s and โ90s โ has since joined Lansdowne and his excellent form continued there, while he was superb for Leinster A last year, scoring eight tries in eight games in their Celtic Cup campaign.
Sheehan moved onto a senior contract over the summer and has been patiently waiting for a debut, with his chance coming tonight against Zebre as Sean Cronin misses out with an injury niggle and Ireland international James Tracy backs him up on the bench.
โHe is big and very powerful,โ says Leinster boss Leo Cullen of Sheehan. โHe came into the academy with a little bit of uncertainty, it just shows you. He wouldnโt have been someone who featured massively with the U20s, others would have featured ahead of him.
โHeโs applied himself very well. He had clear physical potential but he has definitely joined up a lot of dots. Heโs improving his set-piece all the time โ a very good thrower of the ball. His scrum bits working with Robin [McBryde, Leinster's scrum coach] are getting better all the time.
โHeโs still a young man. Weโre delighted how Dan has gone. He has had to bide his time to get his opportunity. He has been a little bit unlucky, came very close on a couple of other occasions but just didnโt get there.
โItโs a big day for him. It just shows you that whatever the pecking order at one moment in time, itโs not going to be the pecking order forever. Heโs had work his way through his own age group but then when you get to the senior group as well.โ
Cullen also pointed out that Sheehanโs younger brother, Bobby, is an even taller hooker at 6ft 5ins and has been impressing for UCD.
Dan gets his Leinster opportunity against Zebre and will be keen to continue his upward trajectory, while there is another senior debut in the backline that Cullen has picked for this game.
21-year-old Liam Turner, who is in Year 2 of the academy programme, wears the number 13 shirt in a youthful midfield alongside 22-year-old Ciarรกn Frawley and 21-year-old out-half Harry Byrne.
Blackrock College product Turner โ he captained them to the Leinster Schools Senior Cup in 2018 โ was superb for the Ireland U20s in 2019 as they won a Grand Slam, has shone for Trinity in the club game, and featured for the Ireland 7s team earlier this year.
Heโs 5ft 8ins tall and around 90kg, so different dimensions compared to some of the monstrous centres in the game, but punches above his size, is combative, has sharp footwork, good decision-making skills, and makes strong defensive reads.
โHe shows good on-field leadership and heโs a good communicator as well,โ said Cullen of Turner. โLiam backs himself and thatโs what we want the guys to do, back themselves and not be overawed by the training environment.
โHe picks things up well. It is trying to build that relationship quite quickly with Ciarรกn in the centre. Harry had been in Ireland camp but came back on Monday. The guys have gelled well and came through the underage system together, played with each other at various different stages.โ
Thereโs another pair of possible Leinster debuts off the bench in the shape of academy fullback/wing Michael Silvester and new tighthead signing Ciaran Parker.
21-year-old David Hawkshaw had initially been in line for his first cap after recently completing his comeback from 17 months on the sidelines with a knee injury by playing for Leinster A against Ulster, but unfortunately picked up an adductor strain in the captainโs run yesterday and has been replaced by 22-year-old Trinity man Silvester.
On-loan tighthead Parker, formerly of Munster, is set for his first cap, while the return of Dan Leavy after 19 months on the sidelines is hugely welcome.
Leinster:
15. Jimmy OโBrien
14. Tommy OโBrien
13. Liam Turner
12. Ciarรกn Frawley
11. Dave Kearney
10. Harry Byrne
9. Luke McGrath
1. Peter Dooley
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Michael Bent
4. Devin Toner
5. Ross Molony
6. Josh Murphy
7. Scott Penny
8. Rhys Ruddock (captain)
Replacements:
16. James Tracy
17. Michael Milne
18. Ciaran Parker
19. Jack Dunne
20. Scott Fardy
21. Hugh OโSullivan
22. Michael Silvester
23. Dan Leavy
Zebre:
15. Michelangelo Biondelli
14. Pierre Bruno
13. Tommaso Boni (captain)
12. Enrico Lucchin
11. Jamie Elliot
10. Paolo Pescetto
9. Nicolรฒ Casillo
1. Paolo Buonfiglio
2. Marco Manfredi
3. Alexandru Tarus
4. Mick Kearney
5. Ian Nagle
6. Lorenzo Masselli
7. Renato Giammarioli
8. Jimmy Tuivaiti
Replacements:
16. Oliviero Fabiani
17. Andrea Lovotti
18. Matteo Nocera
19. Leonard Krumov
20. Samuele Ortis
21. Joshua Renton
22. Antonio Rizzi
23. Junior Lalofi
Referee: Craig Evans [WRU].
- This story was updated at 1.19pm to include mention of Michael Silvester replacing David Hawkshaw on the Leinster bench.
A 6โ5 hooker and a 5โ8 centre? I blame 5G.
@Hirrison Mirk: Bill Gates about to revolutionise rugby. Dont try to stop him gemma
Again itโs great to see the younger guys get a run to give us a vision of Leinsters future. A 10,12,13 combo of 21/22 year olds is exciting.
Overall this is a very good team considering. Great to see two OBriens in the back three again along with DK. Love the look of the back row. Looking forward to this game now.
@Ro Molloy: itโs fantastic to see these lads get a run.
What Leo says about the pecking order is so true. 18 months ago will Connors was not even on thr radar and now heโs starting a 6 nations game on merit.
All this clammer to get young leinster players to move to get game time is bull.
Leo gives those good enough plenty of chances and if they step up he keeps them there.
@Chris Mc:
Itโs not bull, at all and it will continue to happen as no province can keep players warming benches or not even getting into the squad.
Some will be happy, I know, to play second or third fiddle but the ones with real desire to start every week, will move on, so they can show just how good they are.
Back row in Leinster case and centre and wing for Ulster is where the depth is.
The time will come when injury and international weeks is not enough to satisfy some
@Mark Smith: what like Jordi Murphy, nick mccarthy, Jack mcgrath, wheres the example of a player moving province and bettering himself especially in terms of the irish squad.
@Chris Mc: Andrew Conway
@Stephen Duffy: Conway would have been first choice at leinster and would now have 4 HC winner medals and well as an extra 40 caps at this stage. His undoubted talent was reduced to chasing box kicks and creating his own magic for the past 9 years. If Conway had stayed at leinster he would have been a superstar.
Zebre 2nd row โ Nagle and Kearney!
This guy Dan Sheehan is not only a future irish captain, but a future Lions captain! Dont tell anyone but you heard it first from me!
@Kevin Oโbrien: calm down a little there kevin.
Christ Jesus an Irish #2 with a decent throw, he sounds like the full package, physicality & accuracy. Genuinely excited, but letโs not pressure him to death with expectation.
Agree with Mark about interpro player movement, win win for player, country & province โ thatโs providing players get adequate gametime at their new province & they want to move.
@Daithรญ Oโ Donnabhain: a leinster hooker who can throw a lineout ball is area 51 stuff.
He must have learned to throw off YouTube, he didnโt learn at leinster. If I was drowning and a leinster hooker came along with a life bhoy, I wouldnโt get my hopes up, chances are heโd miss the water.