Hat-trick hero Dan Sheehan is confident Ireland have sufficient up-and-coming talent to fill the void left by retiring greats Cian Healy, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray.
The long-serving trio signed off distinguished international careers with Saturday’s nervy 22-17 success away to Italy as Ireland’s two-year reign as Guinness Six Nations champions came to an end.
Flanker O’Mahony and scrum-half Murray received rapturous receptions from an estimated 30,000 travelling fans when they came off the bench in Rome, while prop Healy bid farewell at full-time after being left out of the matchday squad.
Sheehan’s three tries added to Hugo Keenan’s score to earn Ireland an unconvincing, bonus-point victory before their pursuit of a third consecutive championship crown was halted by England’s crushing 68-14 win over Wales.
“I grew up watching them; I didn’t ever think I’d be in the same shirt as them,” hooker Sheehan said of Healy, O’Mahony and Murray.
“Those lads have been the backbone of our squad over the last four years. It’s a pretty emotional to see them go and hopefully we’ll see them around in the future but they’ll be sadly missed.
“But I think there’s some good talent coming through that are happy to fill the spot and put their own print on the game hopefully over the next couple of years.
“That’s just the cycle of sport and the cycle of rugby is that new talent is coming through and hopefully we’ll be all right.”
Sheehan’s first international treble moved him on to five tries for the tournament, with only France wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey (eight) managing more.
Italy caused Simon Easterby’s side plenty of problems and could have snatched a shock victory, despite receiving a 20-minute red card, two yellow cards and losing three forwards to first-half injuries.
“We did what we had to do,” said Sheehan, whose country ultimately finished third in the table.
“We probably would have liked a few more points in the points difference.
“In fairness to Italy, they put it up to us for a good chunk of that game and really put us under pressure and we had to dig deep there to get a win.
“We probably weren’t at our best but it was great to get the five points.”
Sheehan began the campaign on the comeback trail from an ACL injury sustained during last summer’s tour of South Africa.
Following cameos in the victories over England and Scotland, he captained Ireland as they clinched the Triple Crown against Wales in Cardiff before starting last weekend’s pivotal 42-27 loss to eventual champions France and the finale at Stadio Olimpico.
The 26-year-old is a leading contender to join permanent Ireland head coach Andy Farrell on this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.
“One thing I learned from being out for a long time was appreciating every game and taking it week by week,” he replied when asked about the Lions series.
“I feel very good with the body and my knee and I just need to get it back in the lungs a little bit.
“But that will come with time and seeing the game again – it just takes a while when you’re not training for six months.
“That’s slowly coming back and I’ve no hesitation about the knee.”
