‘Ellis Genge? You go from despising people to having coffee': Dan Sheehan on Lions magic
The best way to sum up the unique dynamic of a
British & Irish Lions
tour is to consult a player experiencing it for the first time. 'It's mad how fast you can go from despising people to hanging around to go for a coffee with them,' says
Ireland's
straight-talking hooker
Dan Sheehan
, admitting he had not been expecting to bond instantly with his new English mate Ellis Genge. 'He's definitely someone that surprises you that he's not a dickhead.'
Welcome to the psychological maze that is the first week of a Lions tour on the other side of the world. Dealing with jet lag is the easy part. Even for top players like the 26-year-old Sheehan, a probable Test starter, the need to rub shoulders – often literally – with previously sworn enemies and forging unlikely alliances is a challenge in itself. 'Genge would be a good one. He's obviously a passionate, animated player for England and someone who we would consider, in an Irish jersey, as a talisman and someone we'd need to target.
'But that's been one of the most enjoyable parts, just getting to know new people. We've got on very well. It's probably just that rugby blokes are good blokes. You can turn on the hatred when you want it. [But] our team social after the admin day in Dublin broke the ice.
'There's no awkward moments any more, you get past the small chat. You're going to get to understand people's stories and what's behind them. And he [Genge] is a funny bloke off the pitch. I think everyone loves his energy and humour. You can see the passion he brings to meetings. He's very real and says it how it is.'
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The next performance-enhancing trick is to find a roommate who – how to put this politely? – snores less loudly than Pierre Schoeman. 'I'm with Sione Tuipulotu now so I'm happier,' confides a relieved Sheehan. 'Pierre was snoring his head off ... I was just pretending I was sleeping in the morning! I had a good sleep last night with Sione.'
Along with a few bonding beers – 'All the forced fun can be a bit tedious at times; sometimes you just need to break it down' – the other prerequisite is understanding that a Lions tour develops at 100mph.
Dan Sheehan and head coach Andy Farrell chat during Lions training in Perth. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
Making a good early impression is crucial, regardless of what Sheehan might have done this year for Ireland and Leinster since returning from injury. 'Sometimes it is tricky jumping between green, blue and now red. I suppose it's just about being present. Hopefully I'll get a chance this week to show why I was picked, put my best step forward and do what's best for the team. Sometimes if you haven't played yet you feel like a bit of an impostor.'
Most would argue that, on the contrary, Sheehan is the real deal: a mobile yet forceful forward precision-engineered for the modern game who has scored 15 tries in his 32 Tests.
Simon Easterby, the Lions forwards coach, reckons the Leinster hooker could also do a job in the backrow, or in midfield where Ben Earl has operated at times for England. There is a part of Sheehan that likes the idea. 'I'd like to back my skill set and what I can do but, in an international set-up, would I be good enough? I have no idea. I would like to think I could give it a lash.'
Either way he is looking to follow in the footsteps of Keith Wood and Shane Byrne as an Irish Test Lions hooker, though he must be the first to have spent part of his childhood in Romania. Sheehan's father was working in beer sales for Heineken and the family – Dan is one of four siblings – spent three years in the country. The kids were enrolled at an American school in Bucharest, playing everything from baseball and basketball to volleyball and badminton. 'That definitely impacted my skill set,' suggests Sheehan, who is also a single-figure handicapper at golf. 'My parents were big on just giving anything a go.'
The result is a roaming presence who, given the chance, will take the game to the
Wallabies
. 'I enjoy playing attacking rugby in the loose, whether it be on the edges or through the middle. It would be a shame if I constricted that into a traditional tight-five hooker style of play.' He also has a keen sense of what the head coach,
Andy Farrell
, will want to see against Western Force on Saturday following last week's unscheduled defeat by Argentina in Dublin.
'It's definitely about getting the four different nations connected. Test rugby is so detailed, every inch of the game we play today is so hyper-detailed that it's tricky to do in two weeks. You probably saw that in Dublin. There's so much talent in the room and how we get it on to the pitch is the main challenge of the tour. Hopefully we'll now see an improvement every Saturday and Wednesday.' – Guardian
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Irish Daily Mirror
41 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Davy Fitz explains emotions after winning battle for clarification over reports
Davy Fitzgerald says he is happy to be vindicated after a clarification was published in a Sunday newspaper over reports from 2021 over his time as Clare manager and the hurling supporters' club. Fitzgerald's legal team posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, 'Pleased to secure this important clarification on behalf of our client Davy Fitzgerald. Integrity is critical in sporting and public life and Mr Fitzgerald is satisfied that his good name and reputation stands vindicated'.The post also included a statement from the Sunday Independent that read: 'In March 2021 a series of articles were published in the Sunday Independent concerning Clare hurling, two of which included references to David Fitzgerald, former Clare manager, and his 2018 biography, At All Costs.'Those articles reported on potential divisions in Clare hurling, and the separation between Clare County Board and the hurling supporters' club active between 2012 and 2016, including extracts from Mr Fitzgerald's biography.'Medahuis, publisher of the Sunday Independent, is happy to clarify that, in discussing those subjects, the articles did not contain, not were they intended to contain, a suggestion of dishonesty on Mr Fitzgerald's part'.Speaking about the clarification yesterday, the current Antrim boss admitted it was a "big thing personally" after a four year ordeal for himself and his family. Fitzgerald explained: "To have to wake up on a number of Sunday mornings and read stuff that affects you and your family, and for there to be insinuated certain things against you, is hard to take. "But I made a decision there and then that I wasn't going to let that go. Some of my friends have said to me, 'We know what the story is, don't bother'."I couldn't let that go and I'd like to thank my legal team, who were absolutely unreal for the last three or four years. I'm happy with the vindication. I'm happy it's done."Did it hurt? There are probably two things that hurt me in the last number of years. That was one of them. When some people would actually think that that might be true, some of the stuff that was insinuated, that was terrible. "But I'm glad that it's out there. It was tough not to deal with it at the time, to come out roaring and screaming, but I wanted more than that."My legal team knew everything and they were very happy to go as long as it took to do it. I'm delighted for the family as well that people get to see that side and it means a lot to me."Fitzgerald's father, Pat, stepped down as Clare secretary in 2022, a year after taking a civil case against a social media website. Davy revealed that his father had intended to step down in 2018 to pursue another opportunity but had to stay in his role because of the case. "I would have actually loved to see him gone then and he probably would have himself, but he's happy," said Fitzgerald. "I think he kind of said on Sunday that, 'Do you know what now, that's that'." And the former All-Ireland winning goalkeeper agrees with that sentiment. "It's just nice for people to know what the story is because when stuff is put out there and you wake up on a Sunday morning and you and your family are reading stuff, that's not right," Fitzgerald said. "I think you can see it with me, I'm not actually bitter or anything like that anymore. I'm just glad it's done. It's over now. And that small little group of people, some of the things that were done, not good."Fitzgerald also mentioned the hurt he felt when, while in charge of Wexford in 2020 against Clare, he says he "got absolutely abused personally" by a member of the Clare backroom team."That's not right," he said. "No one should have to put up with that. And it was during Covid, some of my friends said to me afterwards that you could hear it on the television."I suppose the only thing on that day was nearly every single member of the Clare team came up to me afterwards and shook my hand, which meant the world to me."The one thing I said to myself afterwards about these two things is that it's only a very small minority, a few powerful people, that were probably behind this campaign."I look at the supporters in Clare, the Clare players, they're absolutely top class. The clubs in Clare, top class. I've benefited from the clubs in Clare, I won an All-Ireland because the clubs in Clare did their job and I'm so proud."But that did hurt. That campaign hurt. That clarification meant the world because you don't get them too easily, I can tell you that."But you know what? It's done. It's closed. I want to forget about it now. I'm happy with that. But it's over now and it's move on. But I'm delighted to have persisted with it, to have got that." *Davy Fitzgerald was speaking at the launch of the 24th annual Circet All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge in aid of GAA-related charities at Michael Lyng Motors (Ford) in Kilkenny
The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
'What a goal. That is one of the great goals we've seen in Croke Park. Magic, magic Mulligan!'
AS SOON AS it was over, Owen Mulligan got off the pitch, into the showers for a quick wash, then into his brother Stephen's car to get back up the road to Cookstown. His mobile rang with a call from Mickey Harte. He left it unanswered. Things weren't great between them at that point and they hadn't spoken in a month. The following morning, Harte called again. 'He didn't notice me when I wasn't getting on and then I wasn't going to notice him after,' explains Mulligan now. 'He called me as I was going down the road but I never lifted the phone to him. 'He rang me the following day and asked, 'Where were you at? There were journalists looking to talk to you. Do you know what you did here?' 'And I was like, 'They weren't looking to talk to me a month or six weeks ago, so I am not going to talk to them now.' 'He replied – 'I don't think you understand what you have done here.'' ***** Without question, it is the greatest goal in a major game of championship football. There might have been balls that were struck more sweetly, but nothing matches this for balance, daring and chutzpah. Owen Mulligan's goal for Tyrone against Dublin in the drawn All-Ireland quarter-final of 2005 is Gaelic football's equivalent of Diego Maradona in Estadio Azteca, 1986. It electrified a Tyrone side that had been five points down at half-time, bringing them level. While Dublin snatched the draw late on, Mulligan felt superhuman. His aura spread right through the team and they finished the season with their second Sam Maguire after beating Kerry in the final. The curious thing is, he had served notice of this in the league meeting that year in Omagh. He cut in from the right wing heading to goal, gave it the head up and dummied a pass before netting. But to execute two dummy passes, in front of a full house in Croke Park… Where did it come from? It came from a man struggling to earn his place. With balls hopping off him and fumbling possessions. And then Mulligan looked over to the sideline to see Martin Penrose warming up, knowing he was on borrowed time. Advertisement Here's what happened then. Brian McGuigan, no less, made a full-length block on an Alan Brogan shot. The break favoured Ryan McMenamin who handpassed off to Davy Harte. He delivered a long fistpass to McGuigan, who kicked upfield. Paul Griffin beat Stephen O'Neill to the ball but Sean Cavanagh got a toe to the rolling ball. O'Neill picked it up, got his head up and kicked a dink ball in front of Mulligan racing towards the 45 metre line. His marker Paddy Christie was tight. Too tight. As Mulligan spun towards goal, the Ballymun man was left sprawled on the turf. To watch it now is an appreciation of fine art. Left foot solo. Dummy. Bounce. Left foot solo. Dummy. Bounce. 'Mugsy' evades Stephen O'Shaughnessy. INPHO INPHO 'STILL MULLIGAN!' roars Darragh Maloney on the RTÉ commentary. 'What a goal. That is one of the great goals we've seen in Croke Park. Magic, magic Mulligan!' 'Paddy Christie was getting the better of me to be fair,' admits Mulligan. 'I knew I had to do something. Peter Canavan, I believe, said to the line to just hold off for now, to Harte. 'Then the ball came to me and I said I needed to do something. I had a point in my head, I was going to go for a point but then it all seemed to open up for me. 'Stevie O'Neill clipped it into me. Paddy Christie was tight to me. Stephen O'Shaughnessy bought the first one. Then it was Paul Casey.' If those journalists had caught up with Mulligan afterwards, it's a certainty they would have asked him a particular question – 'What were you thinking of when you got the goal?' Grouting the bathroom? The mystery of Transubstantiation? Listen to any athlete closely when they produce moments of genius, and there is a common theme; they aren't thinking. Their mind might be making a million calculations, but it's a feel thing, too. 'Just something else takes control. You are just into free-flow,' he says. 'I got away with the first dummy but I don't know what made me try the next one. O'Shaughnessy fell for the first and I really, really was going to pass it. I think Enda McGinley was inside. So I was going to pass it to him, but then I thought I would go one more and it opened up totally for me then. 'I know people say it was a nice finish. But I just put the head down and blasted it. Because nothing was really going right for me all game and to place a ball against Cluxton, I don't think it would have beaten him. 'So, I just put the head down and blasted it. It looks great because it went to the roof of the net, but it could have gone fucking anywhere, like! The way I was playing…' In that instant, all his hangups, all the toxic negativity fell off him like shedding a skin. 'To hit that net, all the baggage drops off you. Some days you just want the ball. Some days you are making these runs, you are getting out in front and it is crazy how it works,' he says. 'You just think, 'give me the ball, I want to do something quick!' And that's how I felt after that goal. 'And then the next match, it was a fortnight away, it was probably one of my best games.' The morning after, it was back to porridge. Mulligan and a few others had made a pact that those struggling with fitness or coming back from injury would go for Sunday morning runs. 'Celebrity Fat Club' they called it. Perhaps it was peer pressure, but the numbers on such runs soon multiplied. Later that day, people in Cookstown were approaching him and shaking his hand. The goal? Really? He hadn't seen any of it yet, naturally. On the Tuesday night back at training, they sat down to do a bit of video analysis. Mickey Harte showed the clip of the goal. All the room started applauding Mulligan. 'And I said to myself, 'Fuck me.' 'You kind of realised what you did then. You felt ten foot tall and went out and was far more expressive. I found an aura again. It was like magic, you had it inside you and it began to come out again.' There was a fortnight until the replay. The days went slow. Mulligan couldn't wait to see Dublin again. Even now on Monday, working as a site manager on a hotel in Edinburgh, once he heard the draw he got immensely excited for this present group of Tyrone players. Dublin. In Croke Park. An All-Ireland quarter-final. Mulligan shoots for THAT goal. INPHO INPHO And yet, it's not the same. The 81,882 that came in 2005 was helped by a Tyrone support in the first flushes of success, in a newly-finished Croke Park, in the middle of an economic boom. He had links to Dublin himself. His father worked down there when he was a child and he attended school for a few months. Right up to the point when his mother Heather was pick-pocketed at Blachardstown Shopping Centre and they barely had time to draw breath before they were on the road to Cookstown. 'You always have to beat a Dublin or a Kerry to win an All-Ireland. You have to take the big scalp. Our second game against Dublin, that was the best atmosphere I ever played in. The best ever,' he recalls. 'Dublin started to come close to us and at one stage there was a point scored by Shane Ryan to leave two points in it and the roof was lifting off the place. It was fucking mental, Croke Park was shaking. People talk about the All-Ireland and Ulster finals against Armagh, but this was a different kind of pressure altogether. 'It was just noise. The Hill, ah, the hairs standing on the back of your neck. Like being at the Grand National and hearing a stampede of hooves.' That evening, nothing could touch Mulligan. Paddy Christie was injured so he burned through Peader Andrews and then Stephen O'Shaughnessy on his way to 1-7. His second point he shrugged off Andrews, landed a point, and handed a stray dog to the referee Gerry Kinneavy. Tyrone's Owen Mulligan rescues a dog and gives it to referee Gearoid O Conamha. INPHO INPHO In the second half he ran into space to take a pass from Sean Cavanagh. He spun away from two tackles and squeezed a shot to the net. Then he turned to the Hill and produced one of the most memorable goal celebrations in Gaelic football. Related Reads Here's this week's GAA inter-county schedule and TV coverage Tyrone to face Dublin, Meath v Galway in All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals Dublin finish strong to shake off Cork and reach All-Ireland quarter-finals 'I am a massive Liverpool fan but I always had a wee bit of respect for Eric Cantona. You know that goal he got, the chip against Sunderland?' he says. 'And he stands and just puts his hands up? I had watched that somewhere a few days before and just thought it was an unbelievable celebration. Even though he was United! But I just loved it and said to myself that if I scored a goal into the Hill, I was going to do that. 'It wasn't quite like Eric. I just stared into the crowd. At people making gestures at me! But I think it got me a little bit of respect. Other players blew kisses or cupped their ears. I just did that. 'A few fans have since said that to me that I earned the respect of the Hill. I applauded them afterwards and they clapped back. 'I have always loved Liverpool and there's only one place in Gaelic football that reminds you of the Kop, and that's Hill 16. So I used to love it, the colour of it. Plus, they were the same colours of Cookstown Father Rocks!' Even now, the goal follows him around. 'Every so often it rears its' head up on social media. Sometimes, well, you can't but help reading the comments underneath it,' he says. 'When you go down to Dublin you don't be long before you're recognised. To do something like that, you are there in the moment. As the years go on and you have family yourself, you know that to have done something special in headquarters, it's hard to beat.' ***** Mulligan celebrates All-Ireland U20 success as a Tyrone coach in 2022. Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO Only last weekend, Clogher Eire Óg were playing Cookstown Fr Rocks in the all-county Tyrone league. Eoghan McElroy of Clogher, 10 years of age, spent his half-time talking to Mulligan. Afterwards, McElroy's father, Aidan, asked what they had been talking about. 'I was telling him how much I use the hand-pass dummy,' Eoghan said. Legacy. ***** Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
GAA All-Star marks ‘first night in our new home' by getting engaged as couple have two reasons to celebrate
MAYO captain Paddy Durcan and partner Alannah McBrien toasted their first night in their new house by getting engaged. On Tuesday Alannah shared several sweet photos on Advertisement 4 Paddy and Alannah had just moved into their new home Credit: @lannymcbrien and @paddy_durcan 4 The half-back immediately popped the question Credit: @lannymcbrien and @paddy_durcan 4 He had adorned the place with romantic balloons upon their arrival Credit: @lannymcbrien and @paddy_durcan 4 The Castlebar Mitchels ace earned an All-Star in 2019 She reflected: "What a way to top off our first night in our new home. Here's to forever with my best friend." Several of Durcan's past and present inter-county teammates were among the many well-wishers in the comments section. On a similarly joyous note, 2016 Footballer of the Year Lee Keegan added: "Class news!" Advertisement Read More On GAA Rob Hennelly and Diarmuid O'Connor were among the other Mayo legends to react to the post with rival Galway stars Shane Walsh and Damien Comer also expressing their delight. The 2025 inter-county campaign saw Durcan, 30, make his long-awaited return after While his return to the pitch was a welcome boost to their on-pitch fortunes, it wound up being another frustrating Championship for the Green and Red. After putting themselves in a hole by Advertisement Most read in GAA Football Comment Exclusive However, in a cruel twist of fate even by the standards of Mayo football over the past decade or so, And the off-season in Mayo never passes without some sort of circus. Tomas O'Se calls out GAA's mid-season rule change but fellow Sunday Game pundit disagrees The debrief after their fruitless 2023 and 2024 campaigns saw in-depth reviews go on for months, much to the frustration of their demanding supporters. The most worrying aspect of their season was of course that Kevin McStay suffered a health scare in May which Advertisement It means the county are It remains to be seen if McStay will remain on for a fourth campaign after coach and former boss Stephen Rochford temporarily took the reins last month. Rochford led them to the 2016 and 2017 All-Ireland finals where they agonisingly fell short against Dublin. Still, the Crossmolina clubman got a tune from them this term as they stunned Tyrone in the second round before their one-point loss to Donegal saw them finish bottom of Group 1. Advertisement He may be sick of the torment that comes with the job and there are questions over some stars' futures. January seems like a million miles away, but amid another sunny spell across the country, the dark clouds are again on the horizon in Mayo.
