Sheehan challenges Lions to match hosts' passion
Dan Sheehan has challenged his British and Irish Lions team-mates to match the passion of the Western Force underdogs in Saturday's tour opener in Australia.Sheehan will captain a Lions team with only two starters - Sione Tuipulotu and Tadhg Beirne - who were in the XV for the defeat by Argentina on Friday."I'm sure the Force will be 150 percent of what they usually are," said the 26-year-old Ireland hooker."They will be flying into it and that bit of extra hunger can produce some powerful things."They would have been eyeing this game up since they probably first stepped into that Western Force change room. It'll mean an awful lot to them."But I don't want them to think that they're going to be hungrier than us. We have to demonstrate back our own mindset."Western Force were the lowest-ranked Australian side in this year's Super Rugby Pacific, but their head coach Simon Cron said much of their preparation had involved impressing on the players the magnitude of the opportunity."It's a once-in-a-lifetime for a lot of these guys," said Cron"We sat as a group and had a bit of a yarn about how old were you 12 years ago, how old will you be 12 years from now."That's the importance of this game and the special type of game that it is. They are under no illusion around that."
Western Force's XV includes former Exeter scrum-half Nic White, while Ben Donaldson, who had originally kept back with the Wallabies, has been brought in at full-back after veteran Kurtley Beale suffered a hamstring strain in training.Sheehan, who led Ireland for the first time against Wales in this year's Six Nations, says that the quality in the Lions dressing room will make his job easier, rather than more intimidating."You look around the room and so many individuals who are more than capable of captaining this team and, that is something that probably eases the nerves a little bit," he added."I don't have to make it too difficult, I just need to be myself."I am quite a chill person, I feel like I have a good understanding of who I am and what excites me. I just sort of let these things happen in a weird way, I know that sounds like I am almost sat back, but I just don't over-think it really."The Lions schedule ramps up after Saturday's match, with the tourists playing the Queensland Reds on Wednesday.Fixtures against the Waratahs, Brumbies and an invitational Australian/New Zealand team follow before the first Test against the Wallabies on 19 July.
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