Given himself and Rónan Kelleher are vying for the same starting berth at hooker for both Leinster and Ireland, there was a school of thought that he could be better off switching to another Irish province.

However, Sheehan cites the case of Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter – prior to the latter’s transition from tighthead to loosehead prop – as a reason for not taking his career into a new direction.

“I knew from even last year that it would be naive to sort of go chasing other clubs or trying to become a superhero somewhere else. I think the set-up Leinster have of developing young players has proven itself over the years,” Sheehan said.

“Like Ports and Tadhg last year. I know they’ve swapped now, but both of them last year were picked for the Lions in the same position. I don’t think there was any looking at any club. I think Leinster is the best place for me for sure. There’s obviously talks of ‘are you better to move if you’re number two’.

“With Rónan I think we both feed off each other. We both get sufficient game time and have an impact on the game. I think the way we train here, I don’t think there was any point in trying to move or improve. I think it’s just going well the way it is and I think I’ve been able to do everything so far that I’d wanted to in the position I’m in.”

As it turns out, the shoulder injury sustained by Kelleher in a Six Nations defeat to France in Paris on February 12 has offered Sheehan an extended run in the number two jersey for province and country.

He subsequently started three games on the bounce as Ireland rounded off their Championship campaign with a Triple Crown. While Kelleher is close to a full recovery, Sheehan will lead from the front in Leinster’s Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 first leg showdown against Connacht at the Sportsground this evening (kick-off 8pm).

The ex-Clongowes Wood College student scored a superb solo try when the westerners visited the RDS in the United Rugby Championship last December, but even though Leo Cullen’s men followed up that win with a 45-8 demolition in Galway just under a fortnight ago, Sheehan is still wary of what Connacht are capable of in their maiden Champions Cup knockout appearance.

“We flipped the page pretty quick onto them. They have the ability to pull the rabbit out of the hat. They’ve been a bit inconsistent over the year, but you can see from their attack and the game that they want to play.

“If they get it right they’re extremely dangerous and straight away put a red flag on the game that, if we don’t get our stuff right, we can be punished pretty quickly and we can end up chasing the game. I think we have to expect it will be the full-noise Connacht coming at us and make sure that we’re on point.”

After being hailed for his performances at international level during the spring – he scored a try to cap a player of the match display against Scotland in the final round of the Six Nations – the 23-year-old front-rower has been doing his best to remain grounded since reintegrating back into the Leinster set-up. Still, he acknowledges feeling a lot more self-assured as a result of his experience with Ireland.

“I think the Six Nations added a good bit of confidence to my game. I’m extremely comfortable now with what I’m doing. I’m not trying to force my ability. I know my ability, I know the areas that I’m good at. I know the areas that I need to improve on. So I think my confidence is probably at an all-time high,” Sheehan concluded.