Dan Sheehan confident Ireland can raise the bar for Nations Championship run-in

Dan Sheehan will captain Ireland for the fourth time when Andy Farrell’s side face Argentina in Friday’s Nations Championship fixture at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 8.10pm), but he seems to have quickly become a natural fit.

While admitting the first occasion he was asked to captain the team – a win over Wales in Cardiff during the 2025 Six Nations – felt like a slight burden, having returned to the captaincy for Ireland’s games against Australia and New Zealand in July, he now feels more comfortable in the role.

“We still have a strong leadership group that does a lot of the chores of a captain anyway, it’s sort of shared amongst the group,” Sheehan said after Thursday’s captain’s run. “In fairness, this group runs itself in many ways, and I see the captaincy as just a label on the side of it.”

Looking forward to the competition’s return, he added: “It’s been an enjoyable two weeks getting ready for a home game again. It feels like a while since we’ve been in a green jersey at home. I think the lads are buzzing to be back here.”

Friday’s game will also serve as the hooker’s first time captaining Ireland at home. “It does feel a bit different, and to run out as captain in the Aviva in front of an Irish crowd is something that I’m looking forward to doing. It’s a massive honour to be able to do that.

“I have to put my rugby brain on and just think about performance. That’s how I go about those pressures of being a leader or a captain – just worry about your own stuff, you’ve got to perform and walk the talk.”

He said the squad are looking to improve plenty of areas over the next four games after what he admitted were below-par performances during the competition’s southern series during the summer.

“Set piece is something we need to continue to drive. I think we have the ability in the group. You see it in the provinces, it’s a quality set piece we have, and we need to make sure we drive that at international level.

“But there are plenty more. Making sure we’re taking our opportunities; there are too many accuracy errors in attack and defence, which at this level get punished a lot more than in the URC.

“We’ve a few things to tidy up, but I don’t think we’re a million miles off. I thought the focus over the last two weeks has been great – honest feedback, honest conversations with each other about where we’re at and where we need to be. We can all feel we have the talent in the group and we’re going in the right direction if we can put all of our minds together.”

He added: “Sometimes you hear outside noise about is this a transitioning time in Irish rugby, or is this a decline in Irish rugby, and I think it’s all nonsense really. Making sure we keep out confidence in what we have, the personnel we have, the coaches we have in the group, it’s all set up for us.

“I think it’s just doubling down on our work ethic and making sure we fully back ourselves.”