Leinster must match physicality with mental focus to topple Bulls, insists Sheehan

Irish Examiner

a day ago

The dream of lifting a trophy at Croke Park may be as close to being realised as it will ever be for Dan Sheehan but he knows Leinster will have to get both their physicality and mentality to a perfect pitch if they are to win Saturday's URC Grand Final.
South African powerhouse the Bulls stand between Leinster and a first trophy in four years and have arrived in Dublin having been the architects of two semi-final defeats of the Irish province in the last three seasons.
Ireland hooker Sheehan will not dwell on the past too much in that regard, while last weekend's Aviva Stadium dismissal of defending champions Glasgow Warriors ended a run of three successive last-four losses for Leinster.
Yet the Bulls' victories at the same stage in 2022 at the RDS and on home soil in Pretoria last season are reminders of what is required by Leo Cullen's men this Saturday.
'It's good. It's physical,' Sheehan said of the challenge awaiting his team. 'You have to be brave and put yourself in front of these big fellas.
'They'll try to test you. They'll push buttons, it's chat after the ball goes out. It's rubbing your head in the dirt but you know they get you both sides of the ball and I think people enjoy it. I think fans enjoy it.
'I think when you get it right, it's incredibly rewarding to get a win over a South African team. We've experienced that over the years so I think it's a good battle and it's a good spectacle and I hope there's good excitement building through the week and we get a good crowd there. I think it will be a good game on Saturday.'
That the decider is at Croke Park is a huge incentive for Sheehan, though he was also mindful that playing at the home of the GAA can also gives opposition visitors a lift.
Describing the possibility of winning a trophy there as 'unbelievable', he said: 'It's something that we probably wouldn't have even been able to think of or hope for as kids growing up or even over the last few years that it would be a possibility to win a trophy in Croke Park and how cool it is and how it amplifies the occasion.
'Over the last year or so that we have played there three times and I think every time it's a great occasion and people get a bit of a lift from it, and I think the opposition also get a bit of lift from it. That's because they obviously read into the history of it. They realise that it is a big game for us as well.
'I think it's a benefit for both sides and yeah, definitely something we'll talk about during the week is trying to lift a trophy in Croke Park and how we do that is sort of our process during the week and how we get the mentality of things right early.'
Leinster will undoubtedly get a bounce from a timely return to form in their semi-final success over Glasgow last Saturday, when they shook off a lacklustre 13-5 quarter-final win over Scarlets to dispel concerns of another semi-final shock with a six-try, 37-19 victory. Yet Sheehan acknowledged a stiffer test was to come from the Bulls.
Speaking on Monday, he said: 'I thought the energy this morning was great, coming in excited about a final and off the back of a good decent performance on Saturday. The first conversations were positive, everyone knowing that we need to step it up again.
'We can't be happy with that and they are a completely different threat to Glasgow. We have become very familiar with Glasgow over the last few weeks so we haven't played a South African team in a while. It will be interesting now how we go over the next couple of days to get that mindset right.
'We need our physicality right, set piece right, our team game right and then hopefully bring an energy that they can't deal with.'