DAN SHEEHAN IS raring to get his Leinster season going on the pitch, but he has enjoyed being part of the support crew for the past fortnight.
Sheehan was among the Ireland internationals who were part of Leinster’s URC tour of South Africa without playing in either game against the Lions and Sharks.
With those frontliners unavailable for match-day selection after their summer efforts with Ireland, a host of younger players made a positive impression for Leo Cullen’s side as they took three losing bonus points home.
Speaking on The 42Rugby Weekly Extra podcast today, Sheehan picked out a couple of players who caught his eye in particular, namely 22-year-old number eight Josh Ericson and 20-year-old fullback Todd Lawlor.
“Josh has been very impressive,” said Sheehan.
“He kind of came out of nowhere into the pro circle a little bit last year; he played a lot of AIL for a while with Belvo, and I just thought he stepped up massively.
“You see him or you walk by him a few times and, you know, maybe he’s not the biggest fella, but he’s able to run over people. I thought the way he carried himself over the last two weeks and how physical he was in games was impressive.
“And then Todd Lawlor also making his debut down in South Africa, I thought he was very exciting to watch. A good person to have around the changing room, good craic but also a good running talent.
“We’ve seen it in training over the last few years. He probably had a bad season of injuries last year. But I remember him coming in, I think it was the start of last season when we all came back from the Lions tour, and he was training with us while the rest of the lads were off to South Africa, and you could see the talent in him.
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“It’s nice to see him get his break like that and going well over the two weeks.”
Josh Ericson carrying the ball for Leinster. Steve Haag Sports / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO
Sheehan is fit and ready to go as Leinster get set for their competitive return toLaya Arena in Dublin when they face Cardiff this Saturday evening.
Having captained Ireland on their July tour of Australia and New Zealand in the Nations Championship, he enjoyed a five-week off-season before getting back into pre-season.
The return to training involved a fitness test, with a change-up from the ‘Bronco’ that has been done in recent years.
“It was ‘Double Efforts’ this year, which is a more forward-specific fitness test which involves a bit more down-up, backpedalling, shorter bursts,” said Sheehan. “But it’s also equally as grim as a Bronco.
“Josh van der Flier is always very good at it, as you can imagine, the perfect child.
“Do you know what? Tadhg Furlong is pretty good at that compared to the Bronco. He can bounce off the ground pretty well.”
With plenty of training under their belts now, Sheehan and his fellow Ireland frontliners are excited to get back into the swing of playing with Leinster.
The coming weeks include a big inter-pro against Munster at the Aviva Stadium, as well as the start of the Champions Cup away to Clermont before Ireland’s second Nations Championship window in November.
First up, it’s the homecoming game at Laya Arena.
“The changing room is buzzing to be back,” said Sheehan.
“We were told that the redevelopment was going to happen, and then all of a sudden it’s two years, it was meant to be one-and-a-half years, and I think people are itching to get back in.
“We all have great memories of the RDS or the Laya Arena, whether it be debuts or big first European games or whatever it might be and going as a child.
“We owe it to the fans to make sure we show up properly and enjoy ourselves out there and put a performance in because it has probably been a different feel at Leinster games over the last two years, and we look forward to hopefully making this a proper home.
“I got to go to the Horse Show and obviously the Zebre pre-season game, and it’s a proper stadium, proper club ground, nice and intimate.
“The new stand is right on the pitch, you get access to players, and hopefully we can create a buzz for the season ahead because everyone in our changing room is excited to be back.”
Dan Sheehan was speaking ahead of Leinster Rugby’s homecoming game against Cardiff at Laya Arena on Saturday 10 October. Laya healthcare, part of AXA, is giving its members All Access to Leinster Rugby this season, with over 100 guests welcomed on the night and 5 lucky members invited to an upgraded hospitality experience. All Access will be at Leinster home games at Laya Arena all season, so follow @layahealthcare and @layaarena on Instagram for details.
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'Josh Ericson has been impressive... Todd Lawlor is very exciting'
DAN SHEEHAN IS raring to get his Leinster season going on the pitch, but he has enjoyed being part of the support crew for the past fortnight.
Sheehan was among the Ireland internationals who were part of Leinster’s URC tour of South Africa without playing in either game against the Lions and Sharks.
With those frontliners unavailable for match-day selection after their summer efforts with Ireland, a host of younger players made a positive impression for Leo Cullen’s side as they took three losing bonus points home.
Speaking on The 42 Rugby Weekly Extra podcast today, Sheehan picked out a couple of players who caught his eye in particular, namely 22-year-old number eight Josh Ericson and 20-year-old fullback Todd Lawlor.
“Josh has been very impressive,” said Sheehan.
“He kind of came out of nowhere into the pro circle a little bit last year; he played a lot of AIL for a while with Belvo, and I just thought he stepped up massively.
“You see him or you walk by him a few times and, you know, maybe he’s not the biggest fella, but he’s able to run over people. I thought the way he carried himself over the last two weeks and how physical he was in games was impressive.
“And then Todd Lawlor also making his debut down in South Africa, I thought he was very exciting to watch. A good person to have around the changing room, good craic but also a good running talent.
“We’ve seen it in training over the last few years. He probably had a bad season of injuries last year. But I remember him coming in, I think it was the start of last season when we all came back from the Lions tour, and he was training with us while the rest of the lads were off to South Africa, and you could see the talent in him.
“It’s nice to see him get his break like that and going well over the two weeks.”
Sheehan is fit and ready to go as Leinster get set for their competitive return to Laya Arena in Dublin when they face Cardiff this Saturday evening.
Having captained Ireland on their July tour of Australia and New Zealand in the Nations Championship, he enjoyed a five-week off-season before getting back into pre-season.
The return to training involved a fitness test, with a change-up from the ‘Bronco’ that has been done in recent years.
“It was ‘Double Efforts’ this year, which is a more forward-specific fitness test which involves a bit more down-up, backpedalling, shorter bursts,” said Sheehan. “But it’s also equally as grim as a Bronco.
“Josh van der Flier is always very good at it, as you can imagine, the perfect child.
“Do you know what? Tadhg Furlong is pretty good at that compared to the Bronco. He can bounce off the ground pretty well.”
With plenty of training under their belts now, Sheehan and his fellow Ireland frontliners are excited to get back into the swing of playing with Leinster.
The coming weeks include a big inter-pro against Munster at the Aviva Stadium, as well as the start of the Champions Cup away to Clermont before Ireland’s second Nations Championship window in November.
First up, it’s the homecoming game at Laya Arena.
“The changing room is buzzing to be back,” said Sheehan.
“We were told that the redevelopment was going to happen, and then all of a sudden it’s two years, it was meant to be one-and-a-half years, and I think people are itching to get back in.
“We all have great memories of the RDS or the Laya Arena, whether it be debuts or big first European games or whatever it might be and going as a child.
“We owe it to the fans to make sure we show up properly and enjoy ourselves out there and put a performance in because it has probably been a different feel at Leinster games over the last two years, and we look forward to hopefully making this a proper home.
“I got to go to the Horse Show and obviously the Zebre pre-season game, and it’s a proper stadium, proper club ground, nice and intimate.
“The new stand is right on the pitch, you get access to players, and hopefully we can create a buzz for the season ahead because everyone in our changing room is excited to be back.”
Dan Sheehan was speaking ahead of Leinster Rugby’s homecoming game against Cardiff at Laya Arena on Saturday 10 October. Laya healthcare, part of AXA, is giving its members All Access to Leinster Rugby this season, with over 100 guests welcomed on the night and 5 lucky members invited to an upgraded hospitality experience. All Access will be at Leinster home games at Laya Arena all season, so follow @layahealthcare and @layaarena on Instagram for details.
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Captain Dan Sheehan Ireland laya arena Young Guns