FOLLOWING AN IMMENSELY frustrating spell on the sidelines, Leinster and Ireland hooker Rónan Kelleher was glad to be back in the saddle for last Saturday’s United Rugby Championship triumph over Glasgow Warriors.

Having already missed out on the summer tour to New Zealand because of a shoulder injury, Kelleher was also marked absent for the autumn international window with a hamstring issue that kept him on the treatment table for several weeks.

He admits it was difficult during this period to watch his provincial team-mates training away for the return of the URC — and his Ireland colleagues as they went on an unbeaten run against South Africa, Fiji and Australia. The St Michael’s College graduate came through the Glasgow game unscathed, however, and is now hoping for another chance to impress against Ulster tomorrow night at the RDS (kick-off 7.35pm).

“It was definitely tough watching it. All the lads in camp, it was difficult. Just rehabbing, you’re not really part of proper training here either because you’re separate from the group just trying to recover. It’s definitely a difficult time when you’re out injured and that was just emphasised in those big weeks when the internationals are away and doing a job,” Kelleher acknowledged.

“It was just such an innocuous thing, running and then the hamstring went. I thought it might be something small and it would heal over, but then getting the scans revealed it was something bigger. I’m just glad I’m over it now, touch wood, and it will be pretty plain-sailing for the rest of the season.”

Since the latter broke onto the scene post-lockdown in 2020, there has been a fierce rivalry between Kelleher and Dan Sheehan for the number two jersey in both Leinster and Ireland.

Yet injuries have meant that Kelleher last featured at international level in the defeat to France in the Six Nations Championship back on 12 February – a game that saw him being withdrawn with just 26 minutes gone on the clock in Saint-Denis. This has enabled Sheehan to establish himself in the Ireland team and he has gone on to start eight of the nine international tests that followed their 30-24 reversal to Les Bleus.

The one exception was the recent success over Fiji at the Aviva, when Sheehan took over from Rob Herring for the final seven minutes of a 35-17 triumph. The strong performances of his chief rival throughout 2022 has only served to heighten the intensity of their battle for the pivotal hooker position at the provincial and international grades, but Kelleher views this as a positive for Irish rugby in the long run.

“He’s playing great at the minute. It’s one of those ones where it can only benefit the team, though. You look at what the Springboks did in 2019 when they had [Malcolm] Marx and Bongi [Mbonambi]. They had minutes to go around, so as long as we’re winning that’s the main thing.

“The fact that we’re both there, that competition is pushing us both on. It’s just making sure to keep challenging each other and obviously learning together as well because we’d be doing a lot of individual prep together. That can only be a good thing for us both and with Ireland as well, please God.”

While his international ambition remains the same, Kelleher’s focus for now is on a hectic schedule for Leinster. Tomorrow’s clash with interprovincial adversaries Ulster is the second of 10 consecutive games for the eastern province without a break in between and Kelleher is ready to seize every opportunity he gets.

“It’s an important block for us with Europe and the inter-pro games. Hopefully we can keep winning and keep that momentum going. It would be great to do that, it’s a huge block for us,” Kelleher added.

“This is the business part of the season where it’s the nitty-gritty, a massive part of what happens now will determine what happens in May and June so it’s all hands on deck now for the next 10 weeks.”