When Leinster can whistle up an All Black, Rieko Ioane, to replace an All Black, Jordie Barrett, it is not difficult to fathom how other teams might look on with some degree of envy.
Nor is it hard to understand how envy may turn to enmity as the well-resourced club side gilds the Leinster lily with eye-catching purchases.
A team of Irish international players decorated with a double South African World Cup winner, RG Snyman, and Ioane, who played for New Zealand at 19 and who may be selected to play against Harlequins at the weekend in round one of this season’s Champions Cup, can polarise opinion.
Still, any external sentiment that seeks to ruffle Leinster feelings is not troubling Dan Sheehan. The suggestion that malice exists or that the team are measured only by Champion Cup wins is not about to shake the unflappable hooker.
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“I don’t care what people think, or about the outside noise,” says Sheehan. “If everyone loved us it would be kind of weird. There is that sort of hatred towards us.”
Recognition of a common but non-specific alienation makes for good team motivation after Leinster’s uneven start in the United Rugby Championship.
At a personal level Sheehan has also had something of a rollercoaster ride since the end of last season, moving from Leinster to the British and Irish Lions for the summer, to Ireland for the autumn and back to Leinster.
It is, he says, a refreshing feeling, a kindly reset landing back to where he came from and harbouring a more vital kind of energy for the weeks ahead.
“I love coming in here now, in a big week, backs against the wall, needing to prove a point,” he says. “There’s 23 other lads raring to go as well, to prove a point and stake a claim for our season.
“People are excited just to rip in. Everything in the past has happened. It’s a new season, new group. Let’s just rip.”
Fighting talk, Sheehan counters the assertion that Leinster’s desperation to win a first Champions Cup since beating Racing 92 in 2018 might blunt their competitive edge.
More hurtful probably is losing three finals in succession against La Rochelle, twice in 2022 and 2023, and Toulouse in 2024.
Some anxiety creeping in seems such a natural consequence, but the Leinster hooker is more mindful of what Leinster have been getting right and the positions in which they have been able to put themselves. Desperation?
“No, it’s never been talked about,” he says. “There’s so many positive things we’ve achieved over the last few years in the European Cup. But obviously it’s all off the back of disappointing seasons because we haven’t won it. It all just adds fuel to the fire, more motivation.
“We’ve got another chance this year with the new group, and we’ve just got to be excited about it, to go and attack it. So, I wouldn’t say it’s weighs on us. Like, I don’t go into this week now thinking, ‘oh God, I hope it goes well’.
“I’ll just say, ‘rip into Harlequins, see what happens’. Do everything you can, because it’s important, these seedings in group stages ... make sure we place ourselves in a nice position going into the spring. I don’t see it as a negative that we’ve lost a few finals now. It more just adds to the group.”
Harlequins are placed eighth in the 10-team Premiership with two wins from six games. In another time and place that would make them vulnerable to a powerhouse like Leinster.
But the English side’s start to the season is just a win poorer than that of Leinster, who have played six matches and won three. Neither side has yet consistently shown they are potential cup champions.
Like Leinster, Harlequins, with players like Marcus Smith, are capable of some dazzling sequences but have also had some average bouts. Last weekend ‘Quins lost to Gloucester, one of only two teams beneath them in the league.
“Yeah, I’m sure they’re looking at it the exact same way we are,” says Sheehan. “Maybe a bit of a disappointing start to the season in the Prem but you can watch some of their rugby and they’re incredibly good at attacking and physical, and they have some really good players.
“Their backrow is incredibly strong, and their pack, they drive really well, scrum well. So, they’ve got a lot of challenges we need to be aware of. But a lot of what we need to be focused on is ourselves.
“We’re already talking about our discipline. It wasn’t good enough against Dragons, how we control that, especially in the way that the game is being reffed now, and refs being real hot at offside.”
The last few weeks have been baffling, annoying and frustrating regarding on-pitch decisions with the offside now adding to the tackle as an area of interest for players and fans.
But for Sheehan, it is all just outside noise. Like the World Cup draw taking place today, the pressure on the club to win the Champions Cup, or the animosity aimed in the direction of Leinster, they are things to forget about before Harlequins in Aviva on Saturday.
“I’m looking forward to just getting a bit of rugby under the belt and getting stuck into things,” he says. “New competition, new energy around the group. Get on with it.”
