Sheehan steps up as Ireland captain for Nations Championship tour after Doris injury

Dan Sheehan will captain Ireland for the first time across their three-match Nations Championship tour after Caelan Doris was ruled out with a foot injury, with the series opener against Australia in Sydney on Saturday 4 July.

The 27-year-old Leinster hooker revealed the call came in the immediate aftermath of his province’s 36-7 URC final victory over the Pretoria Bulls last month — hardly the most sober of settings. “I remember getting the call on day two of celebrations of the URC and it didn’t faze me at all,” Sheehan told reporters. “I was sort of more just disappointed for Caelan at the time.”

Sheehan was quick to frame the captaincy as a collective responsibility rather than a personal elevation, pointing to the leadership depth already present in Andy Farrell’s squad. “We have a great group of leaders already in this squad so I think it’s just a good chance for me to develop my own personal skills but also get a grip of the squad in a full month on tour, which has been nice.”

Ireland’s schedule takes them from Sydney to McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, where they face Japan on 11 July, before the tour concludes the following week against New Zealand in Auckland. It is the side’s first competitive action since finishing second in the Six Nations, their only defeat in that campaign coming against France in the opening fixture.

With that French loss still fresh, Sheehan acknowledged the importance of a sharp start. “Trying to think back to the Six Nations, we hit the ground running in Portugal, we thought we had a great week’s prep and we obviously didn’t give the best version of ourselves on the day in that first game in France,” he said.

“We need to make sure the prep needs to be the same, we need to have that same feeling and turn over all stones. At the same time it’s sort of stripping the detail back now in the last week and making sure we’re just focused on showing up properly — the basics of the game, physicality and making sure you’re willing to work hard.”

Sheehan added that his primary concern heading into the tour has been keeping the squad focused without overloading them. “That’s been my focus the last couple of weeks, just making sure that the lads are switched on and not sort of overawed by detail.”