Evolution of the modern hooker
Kelleher and Sheehan have size and skill to dominate No2 jersey for a generation
LEINSTER have so many players these days, they almost don’t know what to do with them. Leo Cullen has already used a grand total of 57 in this campaign to date. The extent of depth at the province is truly astonishing.
Take the backrow for example. Cullen named an all-international backrow of Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan ahead for the weekend European tussle with Exeter. Not a bad trio to have at your disposal. There are a lot of top clubs in the Premiership and Top 14 who would pay big money to secure such a combination. It’s even more impressive – and equally daunting for Leinster’s rivals next season – that they will have Caelan Doris, Dan Leavy, Will Connors, Max Deegan and Scott Penny back on the roster as well.
There’s also Josh Murphy, likely to be deployed at lock in the future, given a few old heads are to depart in the summer.
It’s the same across the board, so much so that players have long since spilled into the other
“Sheehan, 22,
is the new kid on the block”
provinces seeking game time and further exposure. Some have moved further afield such as Bryan Byrne. Such was the level of competition within the doors of the high-performance centre in UCD, the former Ireland U20 hooker decided to take up an offer from Pat Lam and head across to Bristol. The Carlow man had fallen down a pecking order which read: Ronan Kelleher, James Tracy, Sean Cronin and Dan Sheehan, the breakout star.
Kelleher has made the position his own in recent years. The 23year-old already has 11 international caps to his name and is being tipped to usurp Rob Herring as Ireland’s firstchoice hooker in the coming years. Kelleher showcased his power and dynamism in the Pro14 final, and again last Saturday. Crucially, he is also getting to grips with hooker basics – lineout throwing and scrummaging. Tracy, 30, is the ultimate team man in this squad. The Kildare native is unlikely to add to the six Ireland caps he accumulated across 2016 and 2017. However, he is a highly valued member of this current Leinster set-up. Sheehan, 22, is the new kid on the block and there is much excitement about what the giant hooker can bring. The Lansdowne frontrower moved on to a senior deal last summer and has impressed across his 10 appearances this term. Built for the modern game, Sheehan stands at 6ft 3ins and 110kg. He can shift as well and has shown glimpses of his footwork and passing skills. His younger brother, Bobby, is an even bigger unit and has been impressing at hooker for UCD in recent years.
Crucially, all of those mentioned above are home-grown talents. Like the rest of Leinster’s system, their academy is sourcing and producing high-quality players across all positions. It wasn’t always that way though. For the best part of a decade, Leinster had to recruit hookers from outside the province, such was the dearth of local talent.
Cronin, the Limerick-born hooker transferred to Leinster after stints with Munster and Connacht in 2011, is perhaps the last of the big outside hires. Cronin has been a stalwart for Leinster and flourished at his adopted province. He was just one of many recruits from rival provinces or abroad who were drafted in to solve one of Leinster’s most problematic positions.
There was no shortage of local lads lining up to contest the No2 jersey in the early 2000s when Leinster had the Blaney brothers – Brian and David – Shane Byrne, Gavin Hickie and Peter Smyth.
Byrne, in particular, excelled and made 41 appearances for Ireland as well as touring with Clive Woodward’s Lions on their illfated 2005 tour to New Zealand. Bernard Jackman, born and bred in Carlow, arrived back at Leinster later that year after playing spells with Connacht and Sale.
Jackman went on to form the spine of a Leinster pack which dispelled the ‘soft’ tag and blew Munster’s much vaunted pack off the park at Croke Park in 2009.
The well of home-grown hookers had long dried up before that momentous day at GAA HQ, however.
Time and again, Leinster had to go to the market to find players. Harry Vermass arrived from South Africa in 2006. He lasted one season before heading home to Boland in his native land.
John Fogarty, the Tipperaryborn hooker, who is now Ireland’s scrum coach, signed in 2008.
Richardt Strauss proved a far
“They no longer
need to go to the market”
better acquisition than Vermaas when he landed at Leinster the following year. The former Cheetahs hooker and Cronin dominated the position for the next 10 years as Academy graduates such as Jason Harris-Wright, Aaron Dundon and Tom Sexton came and went.
Slowly but surely, Leinster’s stocks have grown again and, in Kelleher and Sheehan, they have a pair of dynamic athletes who can spearhead their challenge for domestic and European titles for the next decade.
Cullen may have to plan without their services for long swathes of seasons to come as well.
Kelleher has already made the breakthrough into the international scene and Sheehan could well follow suit if the mooted tour of the Pacific Islands gets the green light in the summer. It’s a sign of the times. Leinster no longer need to go to the market. They have everything they need inside the four walls of HQ.