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The Irish Sun
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Leinster's ridiculous defensive record down to Jacques Nienaber's ‘fiery meetings', says Dan Sheehan
DAN SHEEHAN admitted that Leinster relish being zero heroes. The province are yet to ship a point in the knockout stages of this season's Champions Cup, setting a competition record. Advertisement 2 Ireland ace Sheehan will be keen to keep up his fine try-scoring record at the Aviva Stadium 2 The two-time World Cup winner has lived up to his billing as a defensive guru They scored 114 points Their stingy defence has been attributed to the work of Jacques Nienaber, who joined the Leinster staff after helping South Africa win a second successive World Cup 18 months ago. And Sheehan insists that keeping their opponents at bay becomes a driver in ensuring the team delivers an 80-minute display. The hooker said: 'It's talked about the odd time in Jacques' sort of fiery meeting. He loves nils. Of course, it's his job. Advertisement Read More On Irish Sport 'We don't talk about keeping teams to zero but we try to limit access to opportunities. 'It can happen in a few ways. If we get a lead, teams won't kick penalties for the posts so it becomes harder to score points, so it changes. 'Early in a game, we make sure our discipline is right so they don't take threes and start building scoreboard pressure against us. "We just need to make sure we are all over our bits and trying to find a balance of aggression and not being too far over the edge where we get sloppy and give away penalty access, where it's hard to get that back right in a game. Advertisement Most read in Rugby Union 'It definitely feels like when you are well up, it's good practice to keep the foot on the throat, that mindset of making sure that we don't step off. 'It's hard to replicate that sort of pressure environment and sort of making sure we get an 80-minute performance. We talk about that a lot. 'That time of year again' - Peter O'Mahony's captivating garden update includes hilarious tip for parents 'Maybe throughout the start of the season we were having the 60-minute block and then trailing off for the last 20. 'So, in that aspect, making sure we were on it for the full game was pleasing. Advertisement 'That's a conversation in a huddle after maybe the sixth try that we try to keep them to zero, making sure we keep doing what we were doing, and it's worked well for us.' That will be a focus on Saturday given that, last year, they went 20-3 ahead against the Saints shortly after the restart but won by only three points. 'DOGGED APPROACH' And Sheehan explained that, having had longer to work with the Leinster squad, Nienaber has secured buy-in from the players to ensure they become as ruthless in defence as they have been in attack. He said: 'He's got a great mindset and dogged approach to defence and drawing a line in the sand to say, 'This is our territory, that's theirs and they don't cross it'. Advertisement 'Every meeting you walk into is passionate and it gives you a bit of a drive. 'You're looking forward to the weekend, you've seen the pictures through your prep and you can get after them with full confidence that if you stick to the system, you'll get it right. 'If you don't, well, we talk about it a lot that our system has its flaws and there's definitely going to be holes somewhere. 'Teams can get it right and we've got to make sure that we're not fazed by it if they get an early try. Advertisement 'That probably has happened in the past few games but his mindset and how passionate he is about what he does feeds into us. "You can put in any system you want but you've got to want to do it. 'You've got to want to do it with the best, aggressive mindset you can in the contacts. 'It has fed in well to the lads here. It took a bit of time but I think we're getting the hang of it now.' Advertisement
The 42
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
This is how Dan Sheehan has scored 12 tries in nine games
DAN SHEEHAN SAYS his coaches aren't as interested in his try-scoring record as everyone else. The 26-year-old hooker has notched 12 tries in nine appearances, five of them starts, for Leinster and Ireland since returning from a knee injury in January. Sheehan now has 43 tries in 68 appearances for Leinster. He has dotted down 15 times in 32 Tests for Ireland. 58 tries in 100 games of professional rugby is some going. Sheehan has every chance of moving into Ireland's top five try-scorers of all time in the coming seasons. Shane Horgan is currently fifth on 21. He will likely do the same with Leinster, for whom Denis Hickie's 56 tries have him in fifth. 'They're all the flashy stats. Coaches look at different stats,' says Sheehan. Like what? 'Probably contact metres, metres after contact, then obviously scrum and lineout percentages, how well we launch off our attack, tackle dominance, there's millions that get sent out.' All of that is true but it's still useful to have a try-scoring weapon like Sheehan on your side. Hookers tend to get their fair share of scores because they finish maul tries, yet the Leinster man has a real knack for finding his way across the tryline. And while his coaches focus on a lot more than tries, the rest of us can simply enjoy watching Sheehan add to his already impressive record. His first try of this season came just before half time on his Leinster return against the Stormers at the end of January. As Leinster tap a free-kick, we see Sheehan moving out towards the left touchline. This is often Sheehan's role in attack, holding width out in the 15-metre channels where he can use his power and pace to great effect. Every attack needs to have players holding width to keep the defence spread out and Sheehan is always disciplined in fulfilling his role. In this instance, he gets rewarded as Leinster's attack eventually swings out to the left and James Lowe puts him away. Sheehan's pace is obvious here as he finishes from more than 15 metres out. Despite playing in the front row, he is very fast. Ex-Leinster hooker James Tracy recently told The 42 Rugby Weekly Extra podcast that Sheehan has been recorded moving at a speed of close to 10 metres per second, which is faster than many outside backs. Sheehan's second try in this game begins with him throwing into a lineout on the right-hand side. As Leinster play off a maul break into midfield, Sheehan works hard to get around the corner for second phase. Sheehan runs a decoy line as Leinster play out towards the left touchline on second phase. And when they shift back infield, it's Sheehan who gets on the ball and plays a sweep pass out the back. As soon as he has passed, Sheehan is thinking about his next role and whether he needs to hold the width. As we can see below, he glances over his shoulder. Sheehan can see that left wing Lowe has already begun to swing infield, so he backs out to the left touchline to hold the width there. Leinster play wide to the right but when they come back to their left, Sheehan gets his reward as Lowe finds him with a kick pass. Having bagged two tries on his Leinster return, Sheehan immediately went into the Ireland matchday squad for their Six Nations opener against England the following weekend. And in a shock to no one, he also scored on his Ireland comeback. It was a superb effort in which Sheehan had three touches of the ball. First, he draws in two defenders before his clever tip-on pass sends Jack Conan scorching upfield. Sheehan is tackled but fights to stay on his feet before setting off upfield. He doesn't just chase the ball, instead having the presence of mind to move out to the left and set up for the next phase. Advertisement When Sheehan gets the ball agani, he launches a long pass wide to Lowe. And when Lowe beats his man on the outside, Sheehan shows that pace again to burn up on the inside and finish with power. Sheehan went through a two-game try drought in the weeks that followed but was back on the scoresheet in Ireland's defeat to France, having also been restored to the starting XV. Against the French, Sheehan benefited from a strong Irish maul. He times his finish well, allowing the Irish pack to tie in all of the French forwards, leaving him to finish past scrum-half Maxime Lucu. Sheehan's body height is nice and low as he drives for the corner. The Leinster man finished out his Six Nations with a hat-trick against Italy. Sheehan's first in Rome came from another excellent Irish maul. Ireland get great length in their maul to give Sheehan a clear chance to finish untouched, with three of the Irish backs joining in. It's an important try as Ireland take the lead for the first time on the stroke of half time. And the Irish maul delivers again after the break as a period of pressure yields a second try for Sheehan. It's a similar effort as Ireland shift infield and a trio of backs help to get Sheehan over the line for another crucial score. Sheehan's third try is the most spectacular Irish effort of the afternoon. The hooker launches the passage with a throw into the lineout on the right. Sheehan immediately gets off the touchline and accelerates around the back of the dummy maul to make a potent carry over the gainline. As Ireland play infield with another narrow carry, Sheehan works back to his feet and shifts straight back towards the right touchline. He joins right wing Mack Hansen, who has swung wide as Sheehan carried off the lineout. Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park has the option of moving the ball left for his forwards to carry on third phase. But Sheehan and Hansen are both calling and signalling for the ball out on the right. And rather than passing, Gibson-Park obliges with a kick pass to his right. It takes remarkable skill from Hansen to seal the deal as he leaps and acrobatically gets the ball back infield to Sheehan before landing in touch. The Irish hooker gleefully takes the pass from Hansen and darts over to finish. Sheehan has scored in all three of his games for Leinster since the Six Nations. An explosive Leinster maul brought about his score in the nine-try demolition of Harlequins. Leinster used a smart close-range play for Sheehan's try the following weekend against Glasgow. Sheehan throws into the five-metre lineout. And just as Glasgow expect another maul effort, Leinster break back into the shortside. Josh van der Flier has Lowe short on his left but instead throws a smart basketball-style pass over the top to Sheehan, who has simply held his position after throwing. It's a snappy finish again from Sheehan into the corner. He notched the third hat-trick of his career two weekends ago against Ulster. Yet again, his first try came out wide after holding close to the touchline following a lineout. Sheehan throws into the lineout in Leinster's half and then holds on the right as they set up to box kick. Leinster win the ball back and surge into Ulster's half. Rather than chasing infield, Sheehan does his job of staying out in the 15-metre channel to give their attack width. He has to be patient as Leinster's phase-play attack initially struggles to make inroads. But when Ciarán Frawley chips behind them and Tommy O'Brien retrieves the ball, Sheehan's positioning pays off. O'Brien glances up to assess his options. Even before looking, he has an awareness that Sheehan is likely to be wide on the right wing, all the more so given that O'Brien – Leinster's right wing – is in midfield. O'Brien delivers a stunning kick into space, finding Sheehan on the bounce, and the hooker gets his 10th try of the season. Sheehan's second begins with him picking off the ball from a botched Ulster lineout. The Leinster hooker's offload attempt is a little loose but Andrew Porter scoops the ball up. This time, Sheehan doesn't return to the edge of Leinster's attack. As he gets back to his feet from the initial involvement, left wing Jimmy O'Brien is moving up onto the left edge having started in the backfield defence, while flanker Alex Soroka is also shifting out there. So Sheehan gets the chance to occupy a midfield position for a change. Sheehan doesn't need to work all the way across to the right, instead holding centrally for when Leinster play back to their left. And when they do so, Sheehan picks a nice line off out-half Sam Prendergast and breaks the tackle attempt of John Cooney to finish. His hat-trick score comes in the closing minutes of the game. This one underlines the work rate Sheehan brings and is a brilliant example of his ruthless ability to finish. Sheehan launches the passage with another accurate throw from the right-hand touchline. He then sets off infield as Leinster use another maul break play. Leinster move the ball wide left immediately and as Prendergast kick passes out to Jimmy O'Brien, we can see that Sheehan continues to work across. Sheehan gets all the way to the left-hand 15-metre line by the time O'Brien passes back infield to scrum-half Fintan Gunne. And that effort off the ball means Sheehan can accelerate onto Gunne's outside shoulder and take a short pass. Sheehan makes the finish look straightforward but it's not. His initial acceleration and choice of running line take him past Ulster wing Zac Ward before Sheehan drives beyond scrum-half Nathan Doak and swerves slightly outfield to evade the tackle of flanker Nick Timoney. Timoney gets Sheehan to ground but he can't tie up the ball and the Leinster hooker calmly uses his momentum to ground it. This probably won't be the last Dan Sheehan try we see this season.
