IRELAND ATTACK COACH Mike Catt has confirmed that he and his fellow coaches remain uncertain as to the extent of the foot injury suffered by Dan Sheehan during Saturday’s 29-10 victory over England at the Aviva Stadium.
Sheehan was withdrawn shortly before half-time during Ireland’s Dublin send-off and has emerged as a major doubt for Ireland’s World Cup, remaining behind in Dublin as the rest of the squad flew to Biarritz ahead of this weekend’s fixture with Samoa.
And Catt says Ireland head coach Andy Farrell expects to be able to provide clarity on the “instrumental” Sheehan’s prospective availability when he next meets the media in two days’ time.
“We still haven’t gotten confirmation on what it is,” Catt said of the hooker’s injury. “He’s still seeing the specialist.
“Obviously, he’s being rehabbed back in Dublin. Hopefully Andy will have a bit more of an outcome-based answer [on Thursday] but as we currently stand, he’s seeing a specialist and getting the proper treatment accordingly, really.
“We’ll have a much better idea tomorrow or Thursday in terms of where he’s at and what his return dates are.
“He’s one of the best hookers in the world currently so he’s going to be missed in whatever team he plays in. But we’ve got full faith in Rob Herring, in Rónan Kelleher, and Tom Stewart who’s showing his face at the moment. It gives these guys an opportunity to have a pop this weekend.
“But again, he’s a world-class rugby player. He’s been instrumental in terms of how we play our game. He’d be a big loss to anybody.”
Head coach Farrell will make his final 33-man squad selection for France next Monday, two days after Ireland face a Samoan side coached by Catt’s former London Irish teammate Seilala Mapusua.
Ireland’s World Cup prep has been massively skills-focused for the past two months, the benefits of which Catt believes are yet to properly bear fruit on the pitch this summer.
And the attack coach has demanded that his side click into gear this Saturday night in Bayonne — and a high gear at that.
“I think we need to be a lot more clinical,” Catt said. “We need to play our way. We know exactly what’s coming with Samoa: they’re a big, physical side. We need to make sure we play our game, playing at a tempo that we’ve trained the last eight, nine weeks to play at.
“It’s making sure that the guys are the right frame of mind. It’s the last opportunity to lay down a gauntlet for selection and stuff and we want to go to the World Cup on a high.
“We haven’t performed particularly well [against] Italy or England. We definitely felt a bit rusty — or ‘clunky’ as they put it — so it’s an opportunity for us, now, to fix the fixables.”
