AFTER RETURNING from a lengthy injury lay-off in fine style at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Dan Sheehan has said he wouldn’t hesitate to be involved in a Six Nations opener against England in the same venue this weekend.

When he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in the first Test of Ireland’s summer tour of South Africa on 6 July of last year, there were doubts over the 26-year-old hooker’s availability for the upcoming Championship. Yet 10 days after being named in Simon Easterby’s 36-man squad for the tournament, he returned to competitive fare in Leinster’s bonus point triumph over the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship.

Eager to make an impression before jetting off to Portugal on Sunday to join up with the Ireland squad at their pre-Six Nations training base in Quinta do Lago, Sheehan bagged a brace of tries during his 63 minutes on the pitch at Irish Rugby HQ.

“It’s probably a step up [to play in the Six Nations], but there’s no hesitation at all really on the knee. I’ll get over tomorrow [Sunday] and hopefully crack into another week’s prep for a match and see how we go,” Sheehan remarked after being named player of the match against the Stormers.

“There would be absolutely no hesitation from my end, to play or to be involved in any way. It depends on what the team wants and the backroom staff. I’m not sure, I haven’t really been speaking to anyone in the IRFU.

“I just focused on getting back this week and just kept the mind simple. I suppose we’ll find out during the week.”

Considering it can often take eight or nine months for athletes to return to action following an ACL injury, Sheehan has done extremely well to get himself back in the saddle a little over six months after that aforementioned duel with South Africa.

Yet the former Clongowes Wood College student insisted he wasn’t necessarily planning for a return ahead of schedule and was willing to push back his recovery if it made sense from a medical perspective.

“I don’t think we missed a marker really, there were no real setbacks. It played ball with us, to be honest. Sometimes those things can go tricky and you have to set it back, but I was also very sure in my head that I wouldn’t rush it,” Sheehan added.

“If there was anything that I was hesitant about we could push it back, obviously hoping that it’ll be a big year. I wanted to play last week [against Bath], I was itching to go. I was sick of watching everyone else play and wanted that nervous feeling of getting back on a pitch. Delighted with how it went.”

While he did welcome Sheehan and James Lowe back from their respective lay-offs — Lowe had been troubled by a calf problem in recent weeks — Leinster head coach Leo Cullen had some fresh injury concerns arising from Saturday’s game.

Not long after outside centre Liam Turner had been withdrawn because of an ankle issue, Luke McGrath was stretchered off in a neck brace after receiving a heavy knock to the head that required lengthy treatment on the pitch. He was replaced just before half-time by Cormac Foley, who was also forced off with a late injury.

Although Leinster do not have another competitive fixture until their visit to the Ospreys in the URC on 14 February, there were some worries over the immediate wellbeing of McGrath. In addition to revealing he was wearing a brace as a precautionary measure, Cullen revealed the veteran scrum-half was in good spirits in the minutes that followed their 10th successive league win of the current season.

“Lukey is okay there. When you see a guy being carted off you start to get a bit worried alright, but I was chatting away to him. We were chatting about the lead-in and all the rest of the game, so he is pretty with it,” Cullen said.

“Cormac is similar, he’s okay as well. Liam is obviously just back from that ankle [injury] that he’s had done, so he’s got a bit of a jam there. I’m not sure of the extent of that. We’ll see. Obviously no game next week. Hopefully not too bad overall.”

Daire Walsh

URC: Leinster 36 Stormers 12

After returning from a lengthy injury lay-off in fine style at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Dan Sheehan has said he wouldn’t have any hesitation about being involved in a Six Nations opener against England in the same venue this weekend.

URC: Dragons 19 Munster 38

Munster moved up to seventh in the United Rugby Championship table after recording a bonus point victory over Dragons at Rodney Parade on Saturday night.

Even though their spirited opponents finished the game with an unanswered haul of 14 points, the visiting Irish province ran in six tries over the course of the proceedings to give themselves a much-needed play-off boost.

It was a dream start to the action for Munster in Newport as Diarmuid Kilgallen – fresh on from scoring a brace against Northampton Saints in the pool stages of the European Champions Cup seven days earlier – got through for a third-minute try following excellent approach work from Tom Ahern.

While Gavin Coombes had a potential five-pointer ruled out by the TMO off a subsequent attack, the bustling backrow released flanker Alex Kendellen for a second Munster try on 16 minutes.

Making his first start for the province, Ben O’Connor marked the occasion with his maiden Munster try just two minutes after Kendellen had crossed the whitewash. The visitors were in a rampant mood and before the opening quarter had even elapsed, a penalty try ensured they were guaranteed to return with a bonus point to their name.

Although Dragons did their best to contain Munster for the remainder of the half, loosehead prop Dian Bleuler capped the final appearance of his short-team deal with Ian Costello’s men by claiming their fifth try on 32 minutes.

This helped Munster to establish a seemingly insurmountable 31-0 lead at the interval, but Dragons finally opened their account when frontrow Chris Coleman touched down shortly after the restart.

The province remained very much in control of their own destiny, however, and – moments after taking over from Kendellen on the openside – John Hodnett claimed their sixth try of the night on 53 minutes. Supplementing the brace of conversions that Billy Burns registered in the opening half, Tony Butler supplied the bonuses to this score to leave Munster all of 31 points in front.

Yet despite being rooted to the bottom of the URC table, Dragons deserve credit for continuing to battle until the bitter end in this contest. They received a let-off when Munster replacement Paddy Patterson had a try ruled out for a knock-on, but the Welsh club reduced their final deficit to 19 points courtesy of converted tries from Harry Wilson and Dane Blacker.

SCORING SEQUENCE – 2 mins: Kilgallen try 0-5; 16: Kendellen try, Burns con 0-12; 18:O’Connor try, Burns con 0-19; 19: Penalty try 0-26 32: Bleuler try 0-31; 41: Coleman try 5-31; 53: Hodnett try, Butler con 5-38; 67: Wilson try, Evans con 12-38; 73: Blacker try, Reed con 19-38.

DRAGONS: H Anderson; R Dyer, A Owen, H Ackerman, J Rosser; L Evans, M Lloyd; R Martinez, B Coghlan, C Coleman; J Davies, R Woodman; S Lewis-Hughes, D Lydiate, T Basham. Replacements: G Young for Basham (4 mins); D Kelleher-Griffiths for Martinez (9); H Wilson for Ackerman (36); D Blacker for Lloyd (41); J Benjamin for Coghlan, B Langton-Cryer for Woodman (both 50); P Latu for Coleman (60); W Reed for Evans (67).

MUNSTER: B O’Connor; S Daly, T Farrell, R Scannell, D Kilgallen; B Burns, E Coughlan; D Bleuler, D Barron, O Jager; F Wycherley, T Ahern; J O’Donoghue, A Kendellen, G Coombes. Replacements: T Butler for Farrell (24 mins); J Ryan for Jager (41); P Patterson for Daly, J Hodnett for Kendellen (both 50); B Gleeson for Burns (56); E O’Connell for Wycherley (60); D Sheahan for Barron (64); K Ryan for Bleuler (67).

Referee: G Gnecchi (FIR).

Leinster 36-12 Stormers

Daire Walsh reports from the Aviva Stadium 

THE FIT-AGAIN Dan Sheehan bagged tries in either half at the Aviva Stadium this evening as Leinster cemented their status as United Rugby Championship pace-setters with a commanding bonus-point triumph over DHL Stormers.

Playing for the first time since injuring his anterior cruciate ligament last July on Ireland’s tour of South Africa, Sheehan showed few ill-effects of his long lay-off as he crossed in the 40th and 62nd minutes.

Andrew Osborne (two) and Jordie Barrett were also amongst the tries as Leinster shook off the absence of a plethora of internationals to claim their 10th consecutive victory of the URC campaign.

Returning to the starting line-up for the first time since the league victory against Connacht last month, Ross Byrne edged Leinster into the ascendancy by comfortably knocking over a fourth-minute penalty.

The hosts were aiming to make it 14 wins from 14 across all competitions and before the clock had even reached 12 minutes, they had opened up a 10-point lead over their Cape Town counterparts.

While his older brother Jamie is currently amongst the province’s contingent at Ireland’s pre-Six Nations training camp in Portugal, Osborne was afforded a chance to impress in the Leinster back three. After the play was switched towards the right flank off an extended move, All Blacks star Barrett released the Kildare man for a smooth finish in the corner.

A touchline conversion from Byrne further established Leinster’s authority, but a Stormers side containing a host of players who have been capped by South Africa at Test level eventually came to life in the 21st minute.

After being camped inside the Leinster 22, the visitors moved the ball across the field where Ben Loader – like Osborne before him – was ideally placed to dot down on the right wing.

In the wake of a successful bonus strike from Springbok star Manie Libbok reducing their advantage to three points, Leinster suffered a double blow when Liam Turner and Luke McGrath were both withdrawn because of injury – the latter being stretchered off the pitch after receiving lengthy treatment on the pitch.

However, thanks to a brace of returning performers, it nevertheless proved to be a bright end to the opening period for Leinster.

Despite being named in the Ireland squad for the Six Nations, James Lowe and Sheehan were named in the Blues’ starting line-up to offer them some much-needed game time after extended spells on the sidelines. After he was put through by Lowe at the end of a fast-paced attack, Sheehan broke free for his 37th provincial try.

A wayward conversion by Byrne meant Leinster brought a 15-7 cushion into the second half and with Stormers also being forced to replace JD Schickerling and Libbok prior to the interval, the momentum was undoubtedly with Leo Cullen’s men on the resumption.

It was a largely scrappy third quarter with Leinster finding it difficult to break down a stubborn Stormers defence, but their persistence finally paid off in the form of a third try on 58 minutes.

Having played a significant part in Osborne and Sheehan’s tries in the first half, Barrett added his own name to the scoresheet by touching down to the left of the posts via a neat pass through the hands of flanker Scott Penny.

This put Leinster within reach of a bonus point and after Sheehan gathered a delicate kick towards the left wing from Lowe at the beginning of the final quarter, the hooker made no mistake with another clinical finish over the line.

In the wake of scoring his second try of the game, Sheehan made way for John McKee and was greeted with a warm reception from the 18,892-strong crowd at Irish Rugby HQ.

While the TMO ruled out what would have been a popular try for Lowe moments after Leinster pulled 22 points clear, Osborne joined Sheehan in recording a brace of five-pointers on the stroke of 70 minutes – the former Ireland U20s international intercepting a loose ball out of defence before crossing over.

The Stormers did add a second try in the closing moments when No 8 Evan Roos supplied the finishing touches to a line-out maul, but it served as a mere consolation for the travelling South African outfit.

Leinster scorers:

• Tries – Dan Sheehan 2, Andrew Osborne 2, Jordie Barrett
• Conversions – Ross Byrne [4/5]
• Penalties – Ross Byrne [1/1]

DHL Stormers scorers:

• Tries – Ben Loader, Evan Roos
• Conversions – Manie Libbok [1/1], Warrick Gelant [0/1]

LEINSTER: Henry McErlean (Will Connors ’64); Andrew Osborne, Liam Turner (Charlie Tector ’29), Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath (Cormac Foley ’39) (Brian Deeny ’76)); Jack Boyle (Paddy McCarthy ’61), Dan Sheehan (John McKee ’63), Rabah Slimani (Rory McGuire ’70); RG Snyman, Brian Deeny (Diarmuid Mangan ’55); Alex Soroka (James Culhane ’60), Scott Penny, Max Deegan.

DHL STORMERS: Warrick Gelant; Ben Loader, Ruhan Nel, Jonathan Roche, Leolin Zas; Manie Libbok (Wandisile Simelane ’39), Paul De Wet (Herschel Jantjies ’63); Ali Vermaak (Sti Sithole ’63), Joseph Dweba (Andre-Hugo Venter ’53), Neethling Fouche (Brok Harris ’63); JD Schickerling (Salmaan Moerat ’30), Ruben Van Heerden; Deon Fourie (Paul De Villiers ’63), Ben-Jason Dixon (Marcel Theunissen ’64), Evan Roos.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU).

URC: Leinster 36 DHL Stormers 12 

The fit-again Dan Sheehan bagged tries in either half at the Aviva Stadium this evening as Leinster cemented their status as United Rugby Championship pace-setters with a commanding bonus point triumph over DHL Stormers.