ALL EYES ON
THE most important mention in the bulletin emanating from Ireland camp in the Algarve this morning will concern Iain Henderson.
It’s a fair bet Ulster are missing their dynamic leader, injury-restricted to five URC and two Heineken Cup games, totalling 424 minutes, this season.
At least Dan McFarland and the staff coaches are familiar with his face about the place. But the same can’t be said for Andy Farrell over the last two years.
The powerhouse second-row Lions star has been missing out on Ireland for far too long.
Starts
Henderson last two starts for Ireland were March 2022 against Scotland in the final Six Nations game and, prior to that, in November 2021 against the All Blacks.
Ireland have missed the Big Man and while they have mashed on through Six Nations campaigns – where one of the games is Italy – there is a world of difference at World Cup time.
And in Henderson’s case his beef and his leadership – his two UPSs – are vital to this squad as currently constituted.
Despite Robbie Henderson being injured, Andy Farrell will most likely start a dozen Leinster players plus half a bench against Wales this Saturday.
Hands up, Leo Cullen’s Leinster are the best club in Europe but they are subject to the same inherent limitations all clubs have when stepping up en masse to international level.
At a time when nations purposely hide and disguise their playbook, footage of Leinster is as widely available as EastEnders (left)
or Coronation Street’s back catalogue.
Moreover some players in comfortable club teams may have their weakest links hidden/worked into the collective smooth operating mind.
Ramp up the standard of opposition to international level and those with an extra 20 per cent in the tank to cover a teammate can have his hands full doing his own job.
Vital
Thus it is vital to understand that if Leinster are already supplying, say, 16/17/18 players…
At a point where they also have New Zealander Charlie Ngatai, Samoa captain Michael Ala’alatoa and recentlyused Springbok Jason Jenkins to call on…
Just how deep can the rest of the RDS’s supporting cast’s talent be, given they don’t have regular exposure to international, European and URC play-off rugby?
If that’s Leinster-bashing, forgive me.
But if that is actually ‘Leinster bashing’ in the face of needing a 33-strong squad for RWC2023 – two more than RWC2019 – the point is being missed.
Ireland will need to bring close to a dozen-and-half non-Leinster based players to France and, right now, the best of them need to be tested to see how they fit as part of the ‘Leinster\Ireland XV’.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet two-time Lions tourist,