'Trophy lift in November, please God': Dan Sheehan planning to hit the ground running in Sydney

Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho

“You don’t get a second chance.” 

Usually they’re words reserved for a World Cup knockout match, but Dan Sheehan says Ireland is approaching this weekend’s Nations Championship opener against the Wallabies in Sydney as a must-win Test.

After years of trying to get the competition up and running, World Rugby’s Nations Championship finally gets up and running this weekend.

The competition pits six Northern Hemisphere sides up against their rivals from the south, including Japan.

Ireland will play Australia, Japan and New Zealand over three consecutive weekends in July, before taking on Argentina, Fiji and South Africa in November.

Along the way, points will be accumulated and culminate in first taking on second, third and fourth etc over one final weekend in London.

While the 2026 and 2028 editions of the Nations Championship won’t involve promotion and relegation, that high-stakes situation will be introduced in 2030 and have the potential of breaking up the members included in the Six Nations, Rugby Championship and the Pacific Nations Cup.

Asked if the competition was relevant, acting Irish captain Sheehan said they were acutely aware of the importance of getting off to a strong start in the new competition.

“Yeah, trophy lift in November, please God,” he said.

“First game, it's kind of weird, no-one knows what's going to happen, but I think it's a good concept north versus south, and you probably need to be winning every game to get there to the final. You don't get a sort of second chance at it.” 

Sheehan didn’t necessarily address the elephant in the room being that Ireland has never won a knockout match in World Cup history, but the star hooker added that the competition could serve as good preparation ahead of next year’s tournament in Australia.

“It's a good challenge for us, it gives us a nice build up to next year,” he said.

Dan Sheehan. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho

“I think people are sort of getting behind it and excited to see how it goes.

“It might take a few weeks to develop, but you've got to hit ground running and win your first game.

“It's kind of nice that there's maybe a trophy at the end.” 

Making a fast start against the Wallabies takes on more importance this weekend given the slow starts Andy Farrell’s men have made during the Six Nations and November Tests.

Ireland were smashed by France in Paris in February, which ultimately proved the difference between winning and losing the Six Nations.

Back in November, Ireland was patchy and fell off a cliff against the All Blacks in Chicago.

Asked what was different in the strong wins against England and Scotland, Sheehan suggested that Ireland had overdone the analysis and detail at the start of their last couple of campaigns, and said that they needed to ensure they simply brought some of the non-negotiables like physicality to Saturday’s Test.

“I think it was the basics of the game, just physicality and making sure we're working hard,” he said.

“I think we were getting almost distracted by detail and overanalysing maybe in some of the games that we didn't perform well in; you can kind of lose track on what's the most important parts of the game especially in today's game, which is the gain line and making sure we win the aerial battles and stuff like that.” 

While the Wallabies are No.8 on the World Rugby rankings after losing seven of their past eight Tests, Joe Schmidt has named close to a full-strength side with Will Skelton (Achilles) the only real big absentee.

Regulars Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Nick Frost were also left out.

But there’s holes and gaps in Schmidt’s Wallabies side, including an unbalanced back-row and bench, that Farrell will hope to exploit despite being without one or two his best, including captain Caelan Doris and James Lowe.

Sheehan said he expected the Wallabies to pose a tough challenge for Ireland.

“They’re a very proud nation and proud of the jersey they wear, and you could see that in the third [Lions] Test here last year last,” he said. “They can be very physical and play some really nice rugby as well.”