Ronan Kelleher is seen by many as being Ireland's first choice hooker when fit. His attributes in the tight provide Ireland and Leinster with an edge that often lack against sides like England, France, and La Rochelle.
Dan Sheehan, quicker and more dynamic, could hardly have done more to stake his claim as Ireland's no. 1 during the summer tour of New Zealand, and continued this assault on the jersey during last night's 42-10 win over Benetton.
His four try performance last night, albeit at home to mid-tier URC opposition, showed an incredible hunger and fight to continue his quest of becoming Ireland's first choice in the eyes of Andy Farrell (if he hasn't already completed it).
The URC recently released their top 100 players in the list, and folks were questioning the presence of Dan Sheehan at the no. 1 spot, given the talent pool in the league. But, the ranking system used relevant data to compile their choices, and after last night, there will be no doubting Sheehan's claim.
Dan Sheehan Goes For Four
Would you like to see highlights of Dan Sheehan scoring four tries in a game of rugby?pic.twitter.com/jOrbWaSW4h
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) September 23, 2022
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After the match, Leo Cullen spoke about the friendly and fruitful rivalry between the two best hookers in the country.
“I was just saying in the [coaches] box, I’m not sure if I scored four tries in my whole career. And he got taken off with 30 minutes to go. Dan is very dynamic in lots of aspects of the game. Clearly the forwards laid a pretty good platform for him on a few of those drives, but he’s looked sharp.
“Even Ronan when he came on, I thought he looked very sharp as well. Those guys are pushing each other on, which is great to see. James Tracey is out injured at the moment so we have a couple of academy hookers involved in the seniors as well. But the two lads are driving each other on well.”
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