'Chill' Sheehan never lost hope during injury lay-off

Men's Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland

Date: Sunday, 9 February Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Kick-off: 15:00 GMT

Coverage: Watch on BBC One & BBC iPlayer; live on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Ulster & BBC Sounds; live text commentary on BBC Sport website

Serious knee injuries can be devastating for elite-level athletes, but Dan Sheehan never lost hope that he would make it back for Ireland's Six Nations defence during his six-month lay-off after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament.

One of Ireland's standout performers in recent years, Sheehan suffered the injury in last summer's first Test against South Africa in Pretoria.

It kept him on the sidelines through the early stages of Leinster's season, Ireland's autumn series and the busy festive period before marking his return with two tries in last month's United Rugby Championship win over the Stormers.

After that confidence-booster, Sheehan played a pivotal role in helping Ireland secure last weekend's win over England, scoring his side's fourth try.

"No, I always knew [I'd be back]," said the Dubliner.

"I think I'm quite chill. I didn't let my mind wander too much. I didn't think about all the things I was missing.

"It was hard sometimes obviously during the November internationals when you're watching it from home and all the lads are in the Shelbourne getting ready and you're not getting those pre-game nerves for big international games which is weird."

He added: "I always had in the back of my head that I'd be back."

Sheehan was sharing a room with Josh van der Flier during the tour to South Africa and spoke to the 2022 world player of the year about his upcoming recovery process with his Leinster team-mate having previously suffered the same injury.

Despite being laid up, Sheehan says that while he was not compelled to pick up any new hobbies, he busied himself by catching up with old mates and attending All-Ireland League games.

And in a bid to build his power back up, he also trained with Ireland's 1996 Olympic boxer Cathal O'Grady. Part of the former heavyweight's training included skipping for sharpening footwork and Sheehan could be seen training with the rope at the High Performance Centre on Wednesday.

While Sheehan lost time, his rugby intelligence remains fully intact, as evidenced by his slick passing exchange with James Lowe in the build-up to his try against England.

"That was just a moment that probably showed the confidence I still have in my game and that I haven't lost it," explained the 26-year-old, a contender to be the British and Irish Lions' starting hooker this summer.

"I've been comfortable out there for a while so that was just off the cuff. I like to think that I can see the game quite well and see opportunities that unfold."

Speaking of opportunities, Ireland have a big one this weekend. An 11th straight victory over Scotland would push the holders closer to a third straight title, wound a contender and bolster the momentum gained from beating England.

On Ireland's last visit to Murrayfield, in 2023, Ireland lost Sheehan and replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher to injury in a chaotic game that forced Cian Healy to scrummage as a hooker and Van der Flier to throw into the lineouts.

Last year, despite a stout defensive effort from Scotland in Dublin, Ireland retained their title on the final day of the tournament with a 17-13 win.

But Sheehan, who scored in Ireland's 2023 World Cup and 2024 Six Nations wins over Gregor Townsend's side, says the run of defeats will serve only to ramp up the Scots' motivation.

"I think we approach it like every other game but we have to be almost hyper aware of their motivation and if they're going to bring in an extra and their motivation of what they'll bring to the table.

"We probably glance over it once or twice during the week about what we think they might bring or their mindset going into a game, but then it's straight back into what can we add to the game and how are we going to approach the game.

"I think you can get yourself down a rabbit hole a little bit if you think about too much what the opposition are going to do, but I think if we go out and perform like we know we can and improve on last week we should be good for a good day out."