Springboks a 'great marker' for Ireland - Sheehan

Dan Sheehan made his Ireland debut against Japan in November 2021

Quilter Nations Series - Ireland v South Africa

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 22 November Kick-off: 17:40 GMT

Coverage: Listen on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Ulster; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan says Saturday's meeting with world champions South Africa at the Aviva Stadium will provide "a great marker" to show the level of his side.

The match against the Springboks will complete Ireland's November internationals.

Andy Farrell's side lost to New Zealand in Chicago, then defeated Japan and Australia in Dublin in their first three fixtures.

"We've had some proper battles with them over the past couple of years," said Sheehan.

"It's always an exciting game to be a part of and I think everyone's really looking forward to getting up for the world champions coming to town and see where we are.

"We've been building nicely every week so far after maybe a slow start."

Ireland's line-out had come in for some criticism in recent weeks but the Leinster forward was satisfied with how that set-piece functioned in the 46-19 victory over the Wallabies last weekend.

"To be honest, I thought the media around it the last couple of weeks was out of proportion and a lot of panic stations outside the camp, but it hasn't been like that inside the camp," he added.

"We all knew it was minor fixes and basically human errors. That's life and you just get on with it.

"I don't think anyone panicked and we had the right people in the room to sort it out and it all came together at the weekend.

"We take confidence from a good performance at our end and certainly there are things that we need to work on in our own game, especially how we managed that second 20 in the first half, things around our discipline and our defence when teams are in our 22 needs to be better."

Sheehan emphasised that Ireland will go out "with an attacking mindset" against South Africa.

"It's like most Test games. Physicality is always talked about when you put on an Irish jersey, but of course when you come up against the world champions it's got to be at the forefront of your mind.

"But also you can't let it overtake your mind - we have to focus on ourselves and make sure we bring our gameplan to the table and not wait and see what they bring.

"Probably a big part of the game coming up this weekend is the defence in and around the ruck.

"They obviously have some big ball carriers and play sort of quick on top of you, try to narrow you up so that they can exploit in the wider channels. It has been a focus and we've covered the bases there and implemented that on training."