Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DAN’S STILL DESPERATE TO KICK ON
DAN SHEEHAN wants to improve as quickly as he has arrived for Ireland after receiving his World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year nomination.
It was on November 6 last year that the dynamic Leinster hooker made his debut against Japan and, on Saturday, is in line for his 13th cap when Ireland face Australia at Aviva Stadium.
“The last year has gone so quickly and I have enjoyed every second of it,” he said. “It wasn’t so long ago that I was playing AIL week in and week out, so to be here at the top of international rugby, this is exactly what I dreamed of when I was a kid. It has been a great year.
“And I can’t wait to keep going and put my best foot forward. I just found a bit of confidence in myself and my ability and doubled down on my strengths.
“Sometimes you can spend a lot of time trying to fix the things you are not so good at but if you really focus on the things you are good at, and make sure they become a world class thing then you might get your foot in the door.
“That is the main thing, getting confidence and also being injury frree.”
Nevertheless, he is more pleased that Ireland did so well across the board by making the shortlist in eight categories, more than any other country.
The awards take place in Monaco on Sunday night, 24 hours after Ireland take on Australia.
“I’ve probably come along a bit further than I thought in the last year, but it’s been great.
“It’s a bit of a testament to the people who got me here rather than me. There are a lot of clubs, a lot of people, my family have been a massive support. The likes of Lansdowne and Trinity, my AIL clubs, and Clongowes as well.
“It is good to get a bit of recognition for your achievements or how you’ve gone throughout a season. It’s not the awards I’m interested in as much, it’s the team ones, but it’s good to also get the praise, I suppose.”
Mack Hansen is also short-listed for Breakthrough Player of the Year while Andy Farrell is nominated for Coach of the Year, Johnny Sexton and Josh van der Flier (inset) for Men’s Player of the Year, Linda Djougang for Try of the Year and Sevens players Terry Kennedy and Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe are also nominated in their respective categories.
With Sexton winning his battle to be fit after a dead leg problem, Ireland are looking to equal their record of consecutive home wins, which stands at 11.
Sheehan says a clean sweep this November would be “massive” on the back of last Saturday’s mediocre victory against Fiji.
“If we’re honest, we took a step back last week against Fiji, and I think we’ve been talking about making sure we perform each time we play,” said the 24-year-old.
“We’ll be aiming to step it up with the performance we put in against South Africa.
“Australia offer a different threat to South Africa, they’re quite expansive with their play, a lot of really good athletes and they move the ball quite well.
“It will be a big challenge.”