Springboks a ‘great marker’ for Ireland – Sheehan

Dublin’s Aviva Stadium Kickoff Time: 17:40 GMT on Saturday, November 22

Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan claims the game’s scheduled meeting with world champion South Africa at the Aviva Stadium will serve as “a great marker” for the intensity of his side.

Ireland’s November internationals will be finished with the Springboks’ match.

In their first three games, Andy Farrell’s side lost to New Zealand in Chicago before falling to Japan and Australia in Dublin.

Over the past few years, we’ve engaged in some serious combat, according to Sheehan.

“It’s always a thrilling game to play, and I think everyone is eager to get up for the world champions to come to town and see how we’re doing.”

We’ve been progressing nicely, though, despite a slow start.

Ireland’s line-out had received some negative reviews in recent weeks, but the Leinster forward was happy with how the set-piece turned out in the 46-19 victory over the Wallabies over the weekend.

I’ll admit that I didn’t like the media coverage of the camp’s recent weeks because I thought it was overblown and there were many panic stations outside, but it hasn’t been like that inside,” he continued.

We all knew that the errors were essentially human errors, not minor adjustments. You simply get on with life as it is.

“We had the right people in the room to sort things out, and it all came together over the weekend,” said the manager.

We take confidence from a strong performance on our end, and there are definitely improvements to be made in our own game, particularly how we handled the second 20 in the first half, and how we handled our discipline and defense when our 22-team defense are required.

Sheehan put emphasis on the fact that Ireland would “go out” with a hostile attitude toward South Africa.

Like most test games, it’s. Physicality is always on the minds of those wearing Irish jerseys, but it’s also important when facing world champions.

“But you can’t let it take over your mind; we must concentrate on ourselves and ensure that we have a game plan in place rather than waiting and seeing what they have.”

The defense in and around the ruck is likely to play a significant role in the weekend game.