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First-choice Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan is raring to go for the remainder of the Rugby World Cup after declaring his body is in \u201cperfect\u201d condition.<\/p>\n
Question marks initially surrounded Sheehan\u2019s participation in the tournament after he limped off with a foot issue during his country\u2019s warm-up win over England on August 19.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old sat out bonus-point wins over Romania and Tonga before making his World Cup debut as a second-half replacement during Saturday evening\u2019s memorable Pool B triumph over South Africa in Paris.<\/p>\n
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Fit-again Sheehan is targeting further action when Ireland return to Stade de France on October 7 seeking to secure progression to the knockout stages in a \u201cmassive\u201d clash with Scotland.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFor a first experience of a World Cup game, it doesn\u2019t get much better, I don\u2019t think, especially in a crowd like that,\u201d he said, after his side were backed by tens of thousands of Irish fans against the Springboks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely the best atmosphere I\u2019ve played in. We fed off that a good bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy body\u2019s perfect now. I had a few weeks there where the medical staff did a great job to get me back in this time but I\u2019ve no complaints at all now so I\u2019ll be looking to get back into the squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victory over South Africa put Ireland in control of Pool B and propelled them to the cusp of the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
Yet Andy Farrell\u2019s men, who are due to reconvene on Wednesday following a few days off, still have work to do to prevent a pool-stage exit.<\/p>\n
Asked how much pressure beating the reigning champions takes off the Scotland match, Sheehan replied: \u201cNone. The job\u2019s not done.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a bit of luxury now that we have two weeks to lead up into the Scotland game but we can\u2019t afford to take the foot off the gas at all.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Scotland game is going to be massive. That\u2019s obviously a massive win for us but nothing\u2019s guaranteed at all so all eyes on Scotland now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s number one team have won 16 matches in a row and suffered just two defeats in their last 30 outings.<\/p>\n
Sheehan believes the remarkable run of results have helped enhance the unity in Ireland\u2019s camp but insists Farrell\u2019s squad must remain grounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all of these big games bring you closer,\u201d said the Leinster player, who is competing with provincial team-mate Ronan Kelleher and Ulster\u2019s Rob Herring for a starting spot. \u201cThey add to the trust within the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely brings you tighter but you need to make sure you don\u2019t get ahead of yourself and there\u2019s a job to be done now against Scotland.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019ve huge confidence in our game plan and our approach to the games is really good. Our week\u2019s prep has been on point for every game that we\u2019ve won.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just double down on what we\u2019re good at. We\u2019re in a good place now and we just need to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n