IRELAND skipper Caelan Doris paid tribute to his Leinster and Ireland teammate Dan Sheehan after Ireland’s Six Nations win against England.
The Leinster hooker scored the fourth try as Simon Easterby’s men came from behind to beat their neighbours 27-22 in their opener fixture of the 2025 tournament.
Sheehan came on off the bench for his first appearance since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament just seven months ago in Ireland’s drawn test series against South Africa.
The Leinster hooker wore a black knee brace as he made his return in the green jersey.
And his club teammate hailed the number two as an inspiration for his desire to return from the devastating injury before saying that he was a loved and very highly respected person in the dressing room.
Speaking after the game, the number 8 said: “It’s a testament to him. He’s so well liked and loved within the squad because of the quality of the man that he is. He’s worked incredibly hard.
“He was off doing boxing and other things for his footwork, he was rehabbing in the wee hours of the morning and then coming back in later in the day to do double sessions.
“I think through all the tests he does, he’s in the best shape of his life. He’s back running top speeds he hasn’t run in a while. He’s unbelievably strong, everything.
“But more than anything his mentality because when you’re not playing for such an extended period of time it’s so difficult to come back and hit your straps and just perform straight off the bat.
“To go out and perform like he never left is just incredible and I don’t think there are many athletes in any sport that could just do that.
“So, I think he’s a bit of an outlier in that.
“He’s left no stone unturned, he’s been unbelievably diligent.”
Elsewhere, interim Ireland boss Simon Easterby insisted that Ireland needed to be better next week against Scotland after their “arm wrestle” with England.
Two late England tries made the game close after Ireland dominated the second half to earn a bonus point with four tries having trailed 10-5 at half time.
And Easterby was delighted with the win, but believes the team need to be better in round two next Sunday in Murrayfield.
He said: “It was tough and physical and what you expect from an Ireland-England game.
“The first half, it was the first round of the Six Nations…it’s always going to be a bit of an arm wrestle so we had to find a way.
“I thought we played well in the first half, we didn’t quite get our accuracy right which is why they were leading.
“But we cleaned it up in the second half.
“The guys coming off the bench benefited from the work done by the guys who started, it was a tough attritional game.
“We know we need to be better next weekend. It sets us up for next week but it will be incredibly tough.”
