There's a battle on to be Ireland's starting hooker, according to Keith Wood.
Rónan Kelleher started well for Ireland at the Six Nations as Ireland bowled over Wales in the first game of the tournament.
He has established himself as a formidable force alongside Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter in the front row. He was Ireland's leading try-scorer in 2021 with six scores in ten games.
That was until the France game where a nasty shoulder injury ruled him out for the remainder of the 2022 tournament.
Dan Sheehan - his Leinster teammate - came in as his replacement, and not only did he step-up to the mark, he leapfrogged ahead of it, according to former Ireland captain Keith Wood.
"I was really interested when Kelleher came on the scene," Wood told Off The Ball.
"He's a different type from what we've had. He's a ball carrying, running hooker and I'm a big fan of having ball-carriers in each row of the scrum."
"Then I watched Dan Sheehan coming up afterwards, looking slightly more agricultural."
"I'm looking forward to seeing the reaction from Kelleher when he comes back, but I can tell you that Sheehan has leapfrogged him at this stage."
"His standard of play, his impact on the game has been fantastic. He looks leaner than he was, that's because he's playing an awful lot of play."
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