Ireland have their eyes on the ball
WE ALL JUST WANTED TO BE AROUND IT AND TOUCH THE TROPHY
IT’S eight years since a puny-looking 15-year-old Robbie Henshaw was squeezed in the bustle to get up close and personal with the Six Nations trophy which Gordon D’Arcy had brought into Athlone’s Marist College in the wake of Ireland’s 2009 Grand Slam.
‘Everyone wanted to touch it, to be around the Six Nations trophy and to be talking to and seeing Gordon D’Arcy, one of my heroes,’ recalled Henshaw.
Six years was all it took for him to get to lift the trophy in his own right, six years to supplant his inspiration D’Arcy in the Irish midfield. It’s not something he ever envisaged.
He loved the game, loved its buzz, but attending Test games wasn’t really the regular thing. ‘My old man used to like watching them on TV because he said he’d see more. We went to a handful, though, went to a few in Croke Park.’
Now, the family’s pride and joy is centre stage. Literally.
You need a mean streak to have amassed 24 caps by the age of 23, predominantly running at inside centre into the menacing traffic, but Henshaw has what it takes and also has a very realistic chance of becoming the Lions Test series No12 if the next seven weeks work out well.
Switching to Leinster from Connacht
last summer has been great, his growth evident last weekend when his two-try salvo was integral in netting his new team a home European Cup quarter-final against Wasps. Leinster like recruits to be ambitious. Just listen to the background on the Sky Sports commentary (‘Back yourself, Robbie, back yourself’) when he embarked on his lengthy run from halfway to score the first at Castres. He did, the influence of former England boss Stuart Lancaster in particularly has done his rugby the power of good. ‘He’s been brilliant, brought a new dimension into our attacking shape… and he’s helped us massively in defence. You can see his experience is doing us wonders.
‘It’s great to be able to move dirt and soil for Leinster. For them to come looking for me was flattering, gave me a good boost of confidence. I’m adapting well to the systems and playing in that environment. I’m thriving the last few weeks, got a lot more ball in hand and picked up a few scores. It’s nice to keep growing into that shirt.’
Finding his voice has helped; he can call the shots a little more frequently. ‘It’s one of my work-ons the last few years… I don’t feel that old but it’s good to be looked up to and communicate, have a good voice on the pitch.
‘It’s been said to be more demanding of the ball. Our 10s would say it. Even the coaches… just clear chat is what it is. It’s often easier when he [Johnny Sexton] shouts the call out to me, but it’s a symbiotic relationship. Goes both ways.’
In time, he could well wield a more prolific scoring threat. His European brace in France were just the 12th and 13th tries in 65 appearances at provincial level, while there have been two so far in his still-fledgling Test career (the winner against England at the Aviva Stadium two years ago and the clincher against the All Blacks in Chicago last November). But he isn’t getting hung up on it either, citing his at-the-line fumble away to England last year as probably the only one that got away so far.
‘I’ll keep working hard and hopefully the tries will come. I’ll keep doing my best to put boys in space as well and make tries for other people… it [scoring] is not my main priority. My main priority is performance and doing my best, doing my own role for the team and not jump too far ahead of myself.’
His feet-on-the-ground attitude extends to the forthcoming championship. So much talk from elsewhere is about the potential title decider against the English in March, but he isn’t listening.
Not with the on-form Scots spoiling to do a number on Ireland in the champioship opener in six days’ time.
‘A lot of people are already mentioning the England game is the decider, but the Scotland game is going to be one of the toughest and we have to go week to week.
‘We can’t look too far ahead or we’ll get caught on the hop. It’s all Scotland… it’s going to be a tricky one.’