‘My dad is taking trains, planes and automobiles to go to both games’ – Dan Sheehan’s brother set to join him in green

Four years ago, he was part of the Ireland U-20s squad that had their Six Nations campaign shelved after only three games due to Covid.

Having not managed to feature in any of those matches, Sheehan’s chance to pull on the green jersey passed him by in what felt like the blink of an eye.

In the intervening period, he has watched his older brother Dan become one of the game’s leading hookers, but Bobby will have his moment in the sun this evening when he represents Ireland for the first time as part of the club side that takes on Portugal ‘A’ in Lisbon.

Tomorrow morning, Bobby will then jump on an early flight to London with dad Barry, who’ll have the honour of seeing his sons playing for Ireland within 24 hours of each other.

“My dad is taking trains, planes and automobiles to get to both games,” Bobby told the Irish Independent. “My mum (Sinéad) is actually stuck in Dublin, she can’t get to either of them, unfortunately.

“It’s been unreal (following Dan). As a family, we have knocked serious craic out of it. We’ve had some good trips and, obviously, good days in Dublin as well.”

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It has already been a proud week in the Sheehan household. Bobby (23) and Dan (25) face big tests this weekend, with the younger brother finally fulfilling a lifelong ambition the night before Dan starts in Ireland’s clash with England at Twickenham.

“I was in the Ireland U-19s and U-20s camps without ever playing, so from the start of this season, I’ve always had the goal to play for the club side and wear an Ireland jersey at least once,” Bobby said.

“Dan has moved out now, so we don’t see as much of him in the house, but with dad going to both games, he’s very excited. It should be a good weekend, hopefully.”

Like Dan, Bobby is a hooker, and since last season, he has been captaining UCD in the top flight of the All-Ireland League (AIL).

The pair both came through Clongowes, but while Dan went to Trinity – whom he starred for in the AIL – Bobby went to college across the city in UCD.

Dan made a name for himself in the AIL, a timely reminder of the club game’s importance to Irish rugby’s ecosystem, and while he was a self-confessed late bloomer, Bobby isn’t holding out hope of a similar fate.

Currently working his way through his accountancy training at KPMG, Bobby is happy with the position he finds himself in, all the while enjoying Dan light it up on the world stage.

“I suppose you never say never (in terms of getting into professional rugby), but I love playing in the AIL, to be honest,” said Bobby, who’s on the bench tonight. “At the moment, I’m not going out actively looking for anything. I’m happy out playing in the AIL. I knock enough craic out of that!

“This is my second season as captain, I really enjoy it. I’ve been playing with UCD since I left school, so to captain them has been great. I’ve had great craic.

“I suppose you’re not really seeing that everyone coming out of school is going straight to university teams, so the average age probably is lower and you’re seeing more pros or more academy players getting released, which obviously drives the standard.

“I think this year is nearly as competitive as it has been since I’ve been playing. The AIL is a pretty high standard overall.

“Being involved with the club side has been good craic. There’s lads you’ve probably played against ten times, but you don’t know them. You kind of know each other without knowing each other. Everyone is in good spirits, so it has been good.”

The Ireland club side have only had a handful of training sessions together, which means they are up against it in terms of getting up to speed, but the side is packed full of some of the bright grassroots talent in the country.

Playing in Lisbon might be a world away from the bright lights of Twickenham, but to these club players, it means everything.

They’ll hope to get a big weekend for Irish rugby off to a positive start, with Bobby – who never got to share a pitch with Dan because they play in the same position – then hightailing it to Twickenham.

“I sat on the bench behind Dan in school. I got well used to the (warm-up) jacket that year,” Bobby smiled. “We never actually got onto the pitch together.

“We’ve had a fair few run-ins throughout our days, but we’d be quite close.

“I don’t know how much advice I can be giving him in weeks like this, but obviously, we can always ask each other anything. We wouldn’t really go into too much depth or detail about it. We just let each other crack on.

“It’s been a good week for us (family), I suppose! Myself and dad are on a very early flight from Lisbon (tomorrow), so it could be a long day, but please god, it will be worth it.”

Ireland club XV (v Portugal ‘A): A LaGrue (Terenure); C Adams (Terenure), G Pringle (Ballynahinch), P Sylvester (Terenure), C Eddy (Lansdowne); C Kelly (Clontarf), M Moloney (UCD); C Classen (Terenure), D Donnellan (Clontarf), C Bartley (Y Munster); H Brewer (Terenure, capt), F Gilbert (Clontarf); J Kelleher (Cork Con), L Clohessy (Terenure), J Coghlan (Terenure). Reps: B Sheehan (UCD), D Begley (Y Munster), C Gleeson (Old Wesley), A Kennedy (Y Munster), B Looney (Ballynahinch), R O’Donnell (Instonians), A Egan (Terenure), M Best (Ballynahinch).