Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan is hungry to regain his starting role following a remarkable comeback from a six-month injury absence.
The 26-year-old celebrated his return to Test rugby by coming off the bench to claim what proved to be the decisive try in last weekend’s 27-22 Guinness Six Nations bonus-point win over England.
A week earlier, he touched down twice for Leinster in his first competitive outing since tearing his ACL last summer during Ireland’s drawn series against world champions South Africa.
Sheehan has taken confidence from those two performances as he aims to challenge provincial team-mate Ronan Kelleher for his country’s number-two jersey going into Sunday’s round-two visit to Scotland.
“Obviously my ambitions are to get back into a starting jersey, like everyone else’s,” he told reporters.
“But I need to manage the load, going from six months out of the game to three weeks in a row.
“It’s not up to me picking the team, we’ll find out over the next few days, but my ambition is to get back starting.
“It’s just nice being back with the lads, being back involved in those big games, feeling those nerves and that anxiety before a game.
“Of course it’s nice to know I can add value to a team still and nothing is restricting me anymore.
“It’s not in my head at all, so definitely the way I’ve been able to perform has given me confidence that there’s nothing wrong with me anymore and I can go on.”
Back-to-back Six Nations champions Ireland have dominated meetings with Scotland for more than a decade, winning 14 of the last 15 matches, including 10 in a row.
Their last visit to Edinburgh was an incredible tale of triumph in the face of adversity.
Ireland lost four forwards to injury, including Sheehan and Kelleher, in the opening 48 minutes but managed to remain on course for the 2023 Grand Slam courtesy of a 22-7 comeback victory after prop Cian Healy filled in at hooker and flanker Josh van der Flier threw into the lineout.
Sheehan admits the visitors will need to go “all guns blazing” to extend their impressive recent record in the fixture.
“We know their motivation will be to get one up on us because they’re a quality team that have got some good results against some of the top opposition around the world,” he said.
“It is a massive test for us. We’re fully aware of their motivation as a home game and the statement it would give them for the rest of the tournament.
“We need to make sure we rock up on Sunday afternoon and we’re all guns blazing.
“I don’t think we can take a backwards step because if we give them a sniff early on it will become a really tough game.”
Ireland interim boss Simon Easterby is due to name his team for Murrayfield on Friday morning.
Sheehan has now plundered 11 tries in 28 caps after adding to efforts from Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki and Tadhg Beirne last weekend before Steve Borthwick’s side registered two late consolation scores.
“It was obviously a big moment in the game; it was a bonus-point try and it got us where we wanted to be in a pretty safe position,” said Sheehan.
“We ended up switching off in the final five minutes, which was quite disappointing, but it was a big moment.
“It’s my favourite time of the year, Six Nations and being in camp. It’s definitely nice to be back.”
