Dan Sheehan: Ireland must dig deep to close the gap on rugby’s elite
Dan Sheehan has offered a grounded but hopeful assessment of where Irish rugby stands after a bruising end to the 2025/26 season. Speaking after Ireland’s 40-21 defeat to New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday, the 27-year-old hooker acknowledged that the gap between Ireland and the world’s best sides remains real, but he believes it can be closed before next year’s World Cup.
This loss marks Ireland’s fourth straight defeat to the All Blacks since their historic Test series win in 2022. With New Zealand, South Africa, and France now forming a clear top tier, Ireland are left to argue they are the best of the rest. But Andy Farrell’s side have now lost six consecutive matches against that trio, a worrying trend as the World Cup approaches.
What did Dan Sheehan say about Ireland’s performance?
“Probably not the season that we really wanted,” Sheehan reflected after the 19-point defeat. “We saw the improvements at times but if we want to be serious about going on and really pushing world rugby standards, we need to be better.”
He added: “Going into the summer break now for us, obviously rest up, but we need to make sure we’re reflecting properly and get ourselves in the right mindset to attack the next season. We have a bit of improving to do to get there.”
Why is Sheehan confident Ireland can improve?
Sheehan, who captained Ireland on this Nations Championship tour in the absence of Caelan Doris, pointed to the depth of the squad as a reason for optimism. Key players like Andrew Porter, Jack Crowley, Ryan Baird, Tommy O’Brien, and Mack Hansen were all unavailable due to injury, yet Sheehan sees strength in the group.
“Of course I am confident because the calibre of player we have here is unbelievable,” he said. “The amount of experience we have, we just need to get it out of each other. It’s not an easy process. We need to actually dig deep and people need to dig deep within themselves and we need to dig deep as a group. We’ve just got to look forward to the challenge ahead.”
What went wrong against New Zealand?
Ireland’s hopes of ending New Zealand’s 52-game unbeaten run at Eden Park never really got going. The visitors gave up 18 turnovers, twice as many as the All Blacks, which allowed New Zealand to build a 28-7 lead. When Ireland were good, they were very good, creating enough chances for at least one or two bonus points. But basic execution let them down repeatedly.
“It was frustrating because I thought when we were getting our stuff right we were able to be quite productive and get up the pitch,” Sheehan said. “We scored some good tries, setpiece was good. Like Faz said, it was just some things that we didn’t really see coming with uncharacteristic mistakes, discipline errors, which comes off the back of probably being a bit too desperate and trying to make things happen too much.”
What does this mean for Ireland’s World Cup hopes?
Four years on from that famous Test series win in New Zealand, Sheehan feels Saturday was a missed opportunity. “The opportunity to play in Eden Park was one that I don’t know if we’ll ever get back. So it’s frustrating that we didn’t really get it all to come together there. I’m proud of the lads, I thought they stuck together really well over the last few weeks.”
For a nation that dreams of a first World Cup title, the message from Sheehan is clear: the talent is there, but the work is only beginning. The summer break offers a chance to rest, reflect, and rebuild. As Sheehan put it, “We really just need to dig in.”
Photo: RTE.ie