Sheahan relishing golden years

MARIO LEDESMA is 35, Raphael Ibanez has also celebrated that landmark.

The Puma and the Frenchman are two of the most respected hookers in the game and remain a major force in the colours of Clermont Auvergne, Munster’s Heineken Cup rivals at Stade Marcel Michelin on Sunday, and London Wasps respectively.

So why should Frankie Sheahan feel his career is nearing an end simply because he has reached the ripe old age of 32? No good reason at all — especially after his superb display for Munster in last month’s staggering performance against the All Blacks.

He was superb that night, displaying all his long-acknowledged attributes of determination, skill, know-how and stamina that earned him 29 Irish caps between 2000 and the 2007 World Cup.

Sheahan will be remembered for that performance and many others that went before.

Munster are fortunate to have a hooker of his quality, only too ready and willing to stand in for the injured Jerry Flannery in Sunday’s crucial Heineken Cup game at Clermont.

And you would have to think they you be bordering on the insane should they decide against extending his contract beyond next June.

“I hope I’ll be getting a phone call soon,” he says with that familiar smile.

The objective now for the entire squad is to capitalise on the magnificent performance against the New Zealanders and Sheahan believes it will have a decidedly positive effect for the remainder of the season.

“The expectation was so low that people are comparing it now to Heineken Cup finals and even better,” he says.

“Some of the younger guys really stepped up to the mark, fellas like Timmy Ryan, Niall Ronan, Billy Holland coming on, James Coughlan, these guys were fantastic.

“You just have to throw the kitchen sink at it, sink or swim, if we didn’t go with that attitude, we’d have lost by 40 or 50 points. Now we have to move on to the next game but it will definitely build an inner confidence in individual guys to say to themselves, ‘we nearly beat the best team in the world so why should we ever be fazed at going down to Clermont or wherever?’

“Now, every game is different and we have the utmost respect for Clermont. It’s a very intimidating place. But take a guy like Niall Ronan, he could say to himself, ‘I had a great game against one of the best teams in the world, why should I be intimidated down here?’

“Things went well on the night of the All Blacks game and I got into it and got an opportunity and of course I’m relishing every opportunity I get. I’m 32 but I think these could be the best years of a hooker’s life. You have fellas like Ledesma and Ibanez, they have been an inspiration and reached their best in their later years. I’d like to compare myself with them and believe that the best is yet to come.”

As hooker and an inspirational figure against the All Blacks, nobody was closer to the action than Sheahan but even he went into the fray wondering just what might lie in store for the so-called “Munster seconds”.

“When I watched the All Blacks against Ireland from the O2 box up in Croke Park, I thought they were awesome,” he says. “We did so well to contain them in the first half but the power they showed in the second knocked me down a bit.

“We had a captain’s run the following day in Cork and without mentioning it, most guys knew they had to be at their very, very best and there was an intensity that Sunday at training that was definitely up there.’’

After weeks of rain, it was dry and fine for the big day.

“I think the All Blacks are brilliant rugby players and if you play them at rugby, they’ll beat you nine times out of 10. So my thinking was that you don’t play them at rugby,’’ Sheahan says. “We got confrontational, we got in their face and broke it up as much as we could and managed to play a bit of rugby as well, but on our terms.”

In the end, it was a case of so near, and yet so far but there was a time when even a central figure like Frankie Sheahan was fearing the worst.

“When they scored that first try, I did get a fright because of the ease with which they got it,” he admits. “Then we had the five-yard scrum and decided to go for a second drive. Obviously Strings saw the blind side and it was a magnificent try. Barry Murphy is the only guy to have scored against them on their tour. It was a big psychological thing and when Paul Warwick dropped that goal, it was inspirational and fantastic.

“The crowd, the whole atmosphere just seemed to be happening for us. I knew the longer we could stay on top of them and in the game, the more their confidence would wear away. We kept at them. Guys were going down with injuries — some were more genuine than others, if I can put it like that.

“You could see the New Zealanders were becoming frustrated and rattled. They started bringing on their big guns but we were still there. That Rokocoko try with three minutes to go was soul destroying. Really gut wrenching, the fact that nobody has come close to beating them and the fact that we had them on the rack like that. I am still very, very disappointed that we let them go.”