Ireland captain Dan Sheehan has pushed back against suggestions of a decline in Irish rugby, calling the narrative 'nonsense' as Ireland prepare to face Argentina on Friday in their Nations Championship campaign.
Sheehan is leading the side in the absence of injured skipper Caelan Doris. Despite Ireland sitting third in the world rankings — behind the Springboks and All Blacks — they have lost six consecutive Tests against those three nations and have struggled to replicate the form of the previous World Cup cycle, which ended in a quarterfinal exit to New Zealand.
Head coach Andy Farrell has acknowledged his side have work to do ahead of next year's World Cup in Australia, but Sheehan was unequivocal in his support of the squad's quality and direction.
'I think reminding myself and the group of the quality we have... sometimes you hear outside noise about is this a transitioning time for Irish rugby or is this a decline in Irish rugby and I think it's all nonsense really,' he said. 'It's all set up perfectly for us. It's just doubling down on our work ethic and making sure we fully back ourselves.'
Sheehan did concede that there are areas requiring improvement. 'We've a few things to tidy up but I don't think we're a million miles off. I think we can all feel we have the talent in the group.'
After the Argentina fixture, Ireland host Fiji and the Springboks in Dublin before finals weekend at Twickenham. Ireland opened their southern hemisphere leg in July with wins over Australia and Japan before a 40-21 defeat to the All Blacks in New Zealand.