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38
DAVE SHANAHAN
DAVE SHANAHAN
STEPPING UP
An exciting few weeks for you, getting to fill
the boots of Ruan Pienaar?
Yeah, well I don’t think I could ever fill his boots,
but it was great getting my first European start,
I tried to take it in my stride and not think about
it too much. The result didn’t go the way we
wanted, but it was a great learning experience for
me, so overall I’m happy.
What prepared you for that game? Did you
get any advice off the more experienced
players?
It was good, the guys were really helpful, but I
think the best thing they did for me was not try
to get in my face and talk to me too much, which
would have made me nervous. They let me do
my own thing, I’m obviously there for a reason
so they let me take my role in the team and that
was the best thing for me. Obviously playing with
Jacko (Paddy Jackson) outside is really easy as
he’s a world class outhalf, so he was a really good
help to me.
What would you say you have learnt in the
past couple of months based on those
massive opportunities?
I feel that as long as I’ve been with the senior
team, I’ve always had the skills and ability to pass
and kick, and I believe my running game has
always been there, but it’s just about getting more
match experience and knowing that when I have
to step into a big game that I can perform and do
it better on a big stage. For my first three caps,
when I went out I was so anxious and nervous, I
was worried that I wasn’t showing exactly what I
could do. What I’ve been trying to do now is relax
more and take more of a back seat and play like I
know I can and have faith in my skills.
What are your ambitions for the rest of the
season?
A personal goal for me is to get as much game
time as possible, whether that is starting or off
the bench. As a team, the goal is to go on, put in
some really strong performances and compete
in the PRO12. For now, I’m just happy to help the
team as much as possible.
What is the mood like in the camp at the
minute?
The main thing is not to panic too much, we’ve
had four losses on the bounce now and a few
losses before that as well, I think we need to
make sure we don’t get too bogged down by
it, we know we’re a good team, we have great
players and I think we take confidence from that.
The past couple of weeks off will help refresh the
mind and body and when we face Edinburgh we’ll
be able to put our best foot forward and hopefully
go on a good run for the rest of the season.
We fell short at Murrayfield, so it’s a
big opportunity to prove ourselves this
weekend?
Yes, we definitely owe them one after last time, I
don’t think it was a great performance by us over
there, but now all the boys are looking forward to
it and looking forward to getting out and playing.
The international guys are away now;
does that give young guys like yourself the
opportunity to step up?
Yeah of course, we were talking about that
the other day, obviously with all the Irish boys
away at camp, it’s times like this where you feel
you are a bigger part of the group. When big
personalities like Jacko and Rory are there you
feel like they are the bigger more important guys
of the group, but now, when they're gone you feel
more responsibility and feel you can help out a bit
more, you feel less of a squad member and more
a part of the team.