Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan expressed how the recent retirement of France prop Uini Atonio due to a sudden cardiac event ‘puts things into perspective’ for the 27-year-old. It was revealed last week that Atonio suffered from the heart complication, with the La Rochelle front row immediatly forced to hang up the boots as he recovers in hospital.
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Thankfully, the latest reports from French media are that Atonio’s condition is stable following the heart attack. The global rugby family was quick to show their support for the 35-year-old, with the likes of Ireland legend and Atonio’s former La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara amongst those showing their support. Sheehan has had his fair share of on-field battles with Atonio for both Ireland and Leinster, with the British & Irish Lion packing down against Atonio in the Champions Cup just a few short weeks ago.
“Yeah, it’s pretty tragic. It puts things into perspective. Only two or three weeks ago, we were playing against him. To hear something like that forces him into retirement, obviously we wish him all the best. He’s been a top competitor, especially for us Leinster lads over the last couple of years. So, it definitely put things in perspective that, you know, rugby’s not the most important thing.”
Sheehan revealed how despite the recent European rivalry between Leinster and La Rochelle that had reached a fever-pitch in recent Champions Cup campaigns, Atonio’s character always shone through the tense on-field battles between the Dubliners and their French counterparts.
“He’s always been the friendly character. He’s probably the opposite of [Will] Skelton in some ways. He’s the one sort of chatting to you. He’d just be having normal conversations with you in scrums and stuff, and you’re just like, ‘What the heck?’
“But he’d come up to you after a game and just chat to you as if he’s known you for years. So he’s always been that sort of friendly character, but yet a seriously talented competitor at the same time. Sometimes I struggle to see how he’s able to just go from one sort of personality to the other. He’s been top, top quality for so many years now, and we wish him all the best.”
Turning his attention to his own side, and Ireland have been battling through quite the thinned out ranks in the front row. Sheehan’s Leinster teammates and viable loose-head options Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy and the uncapped Jack Boyle are all side-lined with injury, ahead of a blockbuster opening round clash against France. The loose-head contenders for Andy Farrell’s side are now made up of Munster’s Jeremy Loughman and Michael Milne, and the versatile dual-headed option of Tom O’Toole.
Whilst the available trio don’t enter round one of the 2026 Six Nations with an abundance of international experience, Sheehan has full faith in whoever is set to pack down the scrum alongside him in Paris.
“We have confidence in the people we have.” Sheehan said. “We’ve done a good job of building some good depth over the years and we’ve got some loose-heads who have caps. Other teams, I think, would struggle but we have good depth. We have good people to come in and I don’t think a whole lot has changed or there’s been no sense of panic at all in that sort of situation.”
“I am used to playing with them. Mikey [Milne] obviously being with Leinster last year and then Jeremy’s been in [Ireland] camp plenty of times. Of course we’ve got to work it out and in the first few days of camp, that was the main thing. It wasn’t maybe going to live scrums. It was just set-ups, getting that sort of feel thing back and, very quickly, we’ve been clicking and having some good top-quality scrum sessions. So, I think people sort of get straight back into place and bounce back into the role.”
“Mikey [Milne] is top quality. He’s probably been earmarked since he’s come out of school to be an international loosehead, and he definitely has the capability to be top world-class. He’s a smart rugby player, physical, can scrum well, and hopefully he can take his shot now when he gets it.
“There’ll be no problems there. He has a good head on the shoulders. He loves learning. He’s definitely Not too big for his boots. If anything, he needs to just get a bit more confidence in himself, and that’s our job to make sure he feels comfortable in the team. So looking forward to seeing how it goes.”
Whilst the competition to be Andy Farrell’s ‘number one’ for the clash in Paris has the resident loose-heads pushing for inclusion, Sheehan too has felt the nip of aspiring starters on his heels. Sheehan is expected to take the two jersey for the opening bout of the 2026 Six Nations, yet that has not stopped the likes of Leinster teammates Ronan Kelleher and Gus McCarthy, and Ulster duo Tom Stewart and Rob Herring pushing for the starting XV.
“I think there’s some top-quality young hookers across all the provinces now and you look a few years ago, maybe people saying there was a shortage. I think all the provinces are producing some top-quality hookers and it just drives everyone on. Myself and Ró [Kelleher] obviously being in a few camps now, and Tom [Stewart], Gus [McCarthy], even Rob Herring, have been pushing us the whole way. “
Ireland’s last international Test was their breathless Autumn Series finale defeat to South Africa, in which saw Andy Farrell’s men brandished with a plethora of cards in an all-time chaotic contest. At the heart of this 24-13 defeat was an under performing Irish scrum, as the Springboks mounted on the pressure with an exhaustive stranglehold of green and gold dominance. Sheehan ensured that Ireland have been back to the grind stone to sharpen up their scrum for the Parisian push and shove.
“We’ve addressed those issues and we’ve probably looked at it almost like an individual. We sort of tried to solve things on our own. In the scrum it can be very technical and you just need to stick to your process as much as you can. We probably went to a point where we were all trying to man up and just deal with it by ourselves.
“We’ve had good energy from the whole team in the scrum sessions the last couple of weeks in terms of how we’re going to go about it, how we stick to our process. If things go wrong, what do we do and a lot of it is just doubling down on what we know we’re good at and producing what we put on the training field every day.”
It was an underwhelming Autumn Nations Series for the Ireland team, as defeats to the All Blacks and Springboks coupled with a less than convincing win over Japan. The home triumph over Australia was the bright spark of a mixed bag of a month, as the majority of Ireland players seemed a step off the pace having so recently endured an arduous Lions tour across Australia. However, Sheehan does not want to use Lions burn out as an excuse, with ownership fully taken from November.
“I wouldn’t use the excuse that in November we weren’t at it, but it’s nice to have a good few games under the belt, some big European games, some big inter-pro games. I think people are all match-fit now and coming around Six Nations time, everyone is definitely match-fit and ready to go. The season is well underway and I think people are buzzing to enjoy the Six Nations ahead.”
“Even with all the scrum stuff against South Africa, we put some good phases together with our attack. The Australia game, I thought our attack clicked pretty well. The Japan game was similar at times when I think people were questioning whether we’d taken a step back. So, in all those games we’re looking for improvements but there’s definitely signs of what we’d worked on during the week coming off.”
Looking ahead to Ireland’s incoming challenge, and Sheehan could not think of a finer way to ignite the 2026 Six Nations than under the lights of the Stade de France.
“We’ve talked about the excitement from the first day of camp. What a game to kick off the Six Nations and, you know, the Six Nations is so special. It’s always the best two months of the year. Some boring old months for a lot of people, but this sort of gives people a lift and it gives us a lift. If we can bring Ireland with us, that’ll be massive. I know it’s a Thursday night, but I’m sure there’ll be a lot of Irish over there supporting us. I think everyone’s buzzing to get going now.”
“I love the Stade de France. When someone asks me what’s your favourite away stadium, I think it’s the Stade de France. It’s a great atmosphere that you just embrace and love. If you love rugby you should love playing in those venues. Playing there four years ago, that was my first big game where I came off the bench early and that was a good welcome to international rugby. I just love playing in those environments and even in Marseille that was another great day for us.”
There’s no denying that French fans are some of the most passionate in the rugby world. Sheehan expects a raucus crowd on hand in the capital as he prepares to lead his side through a sea of ‘Les Bleus’ support.
“The French are just very supportive people and I don’t think they need to be on the pints all day to get in behind their teams with a bit of noise. They’re chanting the whole way, marching bands, all the lot. It’s a brilliant place. I think we just need to embrace it and hopefully jump on the back of it.”
However, the unique circumstances of the Thursday night match has left the Ireland squad feeling slightly lagged on their weekly schedule, as their preparations mount up at their Portugal training camp.
“It’s felt weirdly normal [Thursday kick off]. In my head it’s Tuesday today [spoke on Sunday], and that’s just the way it’s gone. It was kind of nice actually yesterday having all the rugby to watch in the evening, having the Leinster game, the Ulster game to watch with the lads. Everything’s just been pushed back two days and we just work our normal week. So, yeah, I think it should be fine that front.”
“We just need to make sure that it doesn’t overwhelm us at all and that’s my job. A lot of lads with experiences, to tell the lads that it’s just a brilliant place to go and play rugby and go and perform. There’ll be loads of Irish there but the French don’t wish you bad. They’re just looking for a good game and I think they’re just excited to see a good match.”
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