Bloodgate memories of no interest as Dan Sheehan focuses on Harlequins threat

Harlequins is very much on the Leinster hooker’s mind this week but it’s the current players, like Marcus Smith and Fin Baxter, rather than a meeting 16 years ago, occupying his thoughts ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup round of 16 tie at Croke Park.

Dan Sheehan during Leinster Rugby squad training at UCD in Dublin. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

It’s a game and an incident tattooed into the shared history of a tournament that was still known at the time as the Heineken Cup. Like footballers and actors who reach a certain level of fame, it only needed to be known by one, self-evident word.

Bloodgate.