Dan Sheehan on track to feature in Six Nations
TAKEAWAYS: Leinster Rugby players Dan Sheehan, centre, Leah Tarpey and Tommy O'Brien at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Dan Sheehan isn’t keen to put any time frame on his return from long-term injury, but Ireland’s first-choice hooker is on track to feature in the Six Nations come the spring.
The Leinster front row hasn’t played since injuring his ACL on Ireland’s summer tour to South Africa but the rehab is progressing according to plan and he certainly looks on course to be in the frame for Test duty at some point of the 2025 Championship, if maybe not the start.
“I'd love to get a good chunk of the season, see how we go. I've been conscious not to put a timeframe on it, because then it would be tempting to rush back, and it's very much a week-to-week thing.
“Hopefully into the New Year,” he said on the extension of Leinster’s partnership with Leinster Rugby for two years. “It might take a month or two, but that's what I'm sort of aiming at. Just for the mind, I don't want to put an exact date on it, because then I'd be rushing.”
There have been injuries in the past: to the ankle, the face. But none ever kept him out longer than six weeks. This is the first time he has had an extended stint on the sidelines. His first “road block”, as he said himself.
He’s done his best to keep the head down and work at it.
“It's going great. Obviously, it was pretty tough, the first couple of weeks trying to get it into your mind that you'd be out for a long time. It hasn't been as tolling on the mind as I thought it might be.
“I was able to get over the first hurdle of getting the surgery and getting into the right mindset early on, and seeing it as a time to reflect.
“I've been flat out since I made my debut for Leinster three or four years ago. It's nice to have a period of time to reflect back, analyse the last couple of years, see areas you can improve on, and give the body a bit of a rest.”
Watching Ireland play four November Tests has made him all the more keen to get back playing but there is a mature head on his shoulders and he knows he has to temper that eagerness and return 100% fit.
“The last couple of weeks have been tough, when lads are playing big Leinster games, big interpros in Croker, and the last four international games are tough.
“You're not feeling the nerves on an international week which is just bizarre at this point, because for the last three years it's been every time there's been an international game you get those nerves, you're in a hotel preparing for battle.
“I was on the couch watching the game, or just going down to watch it with a few of the lads.”
