Ireland and Lions hooker Dan Sheehan may not agree with the suspension he received following his illegal clearout of Australia’s Tom Lynagh during last Saturday’s third Test in Sydney. However, the reality is the four-week suspension handed down by World Rugby’s independent review committee is unlikely to damage his or Leinster’s start to the new United Rugby Championship (URC) season.
If Sheehan attends “tackle school” and one match is deducted – making it a three-game ban – he will be unavailable for Leinster’s pre-season clash with Cardiff on September 13th, as well as away URC fixtures in South Africa against Stormers on September 26th and the Bulls on October 4th.
Leinster then play against the Sharks at home on October 11th before meeting Munster in Croke Park on October 18th. The latter match will be new Munster coach Clayton McMillan’s first taste of derby rugby in Ireland.
The strong likelihood is that Sheehan would not have played the pre-season friendly against the Welsh side or have undertaken another long-haul flight to face the two South African teams given the gruelling Lions tour and physical nature of the Test matches against Australia.
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His suspension calls into question the purpose of sanctions if friendly matches can be included.
The 13 Leinster players who were involved in the Lions tour took their holidays after the final Test match last weekend and are unlikely to report back for pre-season training until the end of August or early September.
It is the earliest Leinster have ever had to go to South Africa. Last season, coach Jacques Nienaber had to defend the squad-selection policy for the annual tour as Leinster dug deep into their panel of players.
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The timing of the fixtures came shortly after the 2025 Six Nations had concluded and in Ireland’s final match in Rome against Italy, Leinster had 16 players involved.
That ensured a travelling squad devoid of the international frontline names, although New Zealand back Jordie Barrett, Springbok secondrow RG Snyman and French prop Rabah Slimani were named.
“Since I’ve been here, the South African tour has always been in this slot between the Six Nations and the European games and that always makes it a little bit tough, especially since some of the squad played a big chunk of minutes over the Six Nations,” said Nienaber last March.
The seasonal launch of the frontline players is likely to be in round three against the Sharks or the following week against Munster. Last season’s home derby clash, which was also held at Croke Park, drew a crowd of over 80,000.
