Lions star Dan Sheehan talks through his diving try in second Test win over Australia and admits 'getting melted' led to his quick thinking

Dan Sheehan found himself dragged into Australian protests about refereeing after the Lions win in Melbourne, but the prolific hooker believes he found a legitimate way to score yet another try – and stay out of harm’s way.

The British and Irish tourists’ escape to series victory at the MCG last Saturday was ignited when the 26-year-old Irishman launched himself over two advancing defenders to touch down from a close-range penalty. 

In the aftermath of the Lions’ dramatic, decisive 29-26 triumph in the second Test, Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt raised doubts about the legality of Sheehan’s strike, on the basis that players are not allowed to jump over tackles.

While the debate about this was over-shadowed by the row over Jac Morgan’s contentious late ruck clear-out on Carlo Tizzano, Australia were aggrieved that the Sheehan try was allowed to stand. 

Now, the word-class Leinster forward, who has scored 15 times in 32 Tests for his country, has offered his own take on the incident – arguing that diving finishes are allowed and that he had tried a different approach and suffered a painful fate.

‘I took the first one (tap penalty) and I got absolutely melted trying to go low,’ he said. ‘Usually, one lad goes low and someone maybe is high and I just got both shoulders melted low and I didn't really get much out of it. Then the second one I just thought, “If I have a dive here...” I didn't know if they had anyone in the back. It was just a throw-and-hope and I slipped through.

‘Yeah, I can see all the controversy about it, but I did know that you can dive in the air if you score. I'm not sure, actually, if I missed the line, would it be a penalty or not? I feel like I was at full stretch and landed over the line so why not?’

Sheehan, who also touched down in the first Test win in Brisbane, hadn’t even anticipated that the tactic would work, adding: ‘The play was trying to get as close to the line as possible for the second phase. I just thought in my head I got melted in the first one and didn't get much out of it, that there has to be a bit of an opportunity over the top. It would have been a penalty as well probably if they caught me high. It's a tough job in professional rugby!

‘It's obviously a massive part of why I enjoy rugby, scoring tries and all that sort of stuff. I'll take all the tries that can come my way and I enjoy the attacking side of rugby and trying to figure out defences and set-piece moves. It's definitely something I focus on during a game.’

Sheehan was a helpless observer from the bench at the end of the second Test, as the Lions sealed a comeback win courtesy of a try by his Leinster and Ireland team-mate, Hugo Keenan. What followed was an epic celebration which lasted a couple of blurry, ‘brilliant’ days, to create ‘memories which will last a lifetime’.

But now, the Lions are back in business mode. The series is in the bag but they want more – the target from the out-set has been a clean sweep. They know they can play far better than they did in Melbourne and that knowledge will aid their quest to seal a whitewash on Saturday.

‘We had some good meetings, being honest about what we're trying to achieve here, which is what we said at the start – to win 3-0,’ said Sheehan. 

‘So, I think it would be disappointing if we didn't show up on Saturday. We’ve always been pretty clear on our goals. At the start of the campaign, it was to go unbeaten overseas and win the series 3-0. So, we just need to stick to what we said.

‘There's a lot of people who've put a lot of effort into travelling out for this game and obviously a lot of our families will be here, so I think there's plenty of motivation on the line and I can only imagine what the Australians are feeling now as well. So, we need to make sure that we show up and are aiming to win a third Test.’

Ireland’s supreme front-row talent – widely regarded as the best hooker in the world at present – has relished this epic mission Down Under, enthusiastically describing it as ‘absolute mental’. 

That is a reflection of the intense schedule and the mass support from the fabled Red Army, and also the squad bonding which has taken place, allowing entrenched national rivalries to be broken down.

For his part, Sheehan has savoured forming connections with a number of the England contingent, including men he usually goes head-to-head with. ‘I've really enjoyed getting to know Dickie (Luke Cowan-Dickie) and Jamie George; two people I've obviously come up against a few times, but also looked up to when I was in my school days,’ he said. ‘It’s been really nice to get to know them.

‘Then there are a few lads your own age that you've sort of come up through age-grades like Ollie Chessum, Ben Earl who have been a great craic around it. Seeing different sides of people where you're not hating them all the time – it’s pretty… not surprising, but, you know, you're kind of growing up hating these lads, then all of a sudden, you're like, everyone’s a pretty good fella.

‘You couldn't say a bad word against anyone in the group, which has been brilliant. Hopefully, we can carry those connections on somehow, to the Six Nations, but I don't know.’

Asked if it would be easy to revert to hating the other home nations again, he joked: ‘When you pull back on an Irish jersey, it won't be too hard!’ However, Sheehan has seen the likes of Tadhg Furlong form long-term friendships on past Lions tours and he added: ‘It'll be nice to then share a beer with these lads. 

'I’ve seen it with lads who've built connections with people over the years and I always kind of wondered what that would be like. That’s something to look forward to, I suppose.’