Sheehan: Media's lineout panic never affected us

DAN Sheehan has hit back at the doom-and-gloom merchants ~ all of the noisemakers complaining about the Ireland lineout in recent weeks.

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PATIENCE Dan Sheehan trusts the Ireland system

The game against New Zealand was disrupted by losing Tadhg Beirne to a yellow/red just after the start, while the game against Japan featured some poor early lineouts that were rectified for the rest of the game.

The lineout was part of the winning platform against Australia. "I think we were happy with how the lineout went," says the Ireland hooker. "I thought the media around the last couple of weeks has been out of proportion and a lot of panic stations, it seems, is going on outside the camp but it hasn't been like that inside the camp.

"We all knew it was minor fixes and just basic human error stuff, that's just life and you just got on with it. So I don't think anyone panicked, which is great and we have the right people in the room that can sort it out and it sort of all came together then at the weekend."

But then the lineout will be just one aspect of the game against South Africa.

"I suppose it's like most Test games, physicality is always talked about when you put on an Irish jersey, but of course when you're coming up against the world champions, two times in a row now, it's got to be at the forefront of your mind.