Here’s the thing that I took away from Ireland’s win over France last Sunday - a team that had lost it’s out-half, it’s captain and arguably it’s best performer still had more than enough character to win.
Not only that, but they won pulling away.
It’s been a sad week for Irish rugby. Paul O’Connell is a totemic player, just like O’Driscoll, O’Gara, D’Arcy and Ferris were before him, but the most impressive thing about that win (over an admittedly awful French team) was how many other players stepped-forward to fill the breach.
The likes of Jamie Heaslip, Rory Best, Conor Murray and Rob Kearney would have been expected to assume more responsibility at half-time when it must have seemed as though the walls were closing-in. But there were also vital contributions from Iain Henderson and Devin Toner, a blockbuster from Sean O’Brien and a career-defining performance by Ian Madigan.
And then there was Robbie Henshaw.
Without his more experienced centre partner going into the game and robbed of Sexton’s barking presence on his inside after just 25 minutes, Henshaw could easily have been lost in the maelstrom that enveloped inside the Millennium Stadium. Instead, he showed his credentials as a world class player and, when the game was at it’s most intense, he dragged his side to another level.
A quiet-spoken personality off the field, the 22-year-old could yet develop in captaincy material for his country - particularly if he continues to lead by example as he did last Sunday.
Ireland’s Next Top Centre
Trevor Hogan said it best.
On Monday’s show, Hogan highlighted a period either side of half-time when he said that Henshaw had played the best 15 minutes of rugby he had ever seen.
"It was as influential, I think, as O'Driscoll's performance in Paris. What he did, consecutively, during that period - you talk about people having to step-up to the plate, that cliché, when we're really being questioned, he really did that….none of it is, apart from the brilliant sidestep on Bastareaud, is eye-catching stuff but what he did there in that passage of play and in that turnover on Chouly, he actually transformed the game. There was loads of players that had massive influence but that period of play was just ridiculous."
Leading his side in carries over the gain line (14) and metres gained (a staggering 73m), Henshaw was influential throughout the game, but he was most prominent when it mattered the most.
I’ve broken down all of Henshaw’s major interventions during that 15 minute period.
The Steal
Trailing by just three points and with O’Connell out of action, France launched a wave of attacks on the Irish 22, seeking a score that would send them in at the break on level terms at the very least. O’Brien, Best and Healy all tried to force the turnover to relieve the pressure but it was Henshaw that came up with one of the decisive moments of the game.
First of all, major kudos to Cian Healy at the previous ruck where he ties-up FIVE French players, including the ball carrier and scrum-half, on his own for at least ten seconds, which gives the rest of the Irish defence time and numbers to re-organise.
Then Henshaw and his centre partner Keith Earls combine brilliantly to deal with Damien Chouly, with Earls chopping the French number seven before Henshaw moves into the jackal position to try and strip the ball away - showing impressive strength to hold-off the attempts by both Freddie Michalak and Noa Nakaitaci to force him off his feet.
The Break
Henshaw’s first involvement of the second-half was a ball carry into French territory off a pass from Iain Henderson. It took two French defenders to bring him to ground and from the ensuing ruck, Ireland attempted to spread the ball wide, only for a knock-on from Sean O’Brien that ruined a promising attacking opportunity.
Next, there’s an aggressive clear-out of a ruck after Rob Kearney could potentially have been isolated and Earls was struggling to roll Wesley Fofana off the tackle. Henshaw’s clear-out and subsequent leg-drive is so powerful that Conor Murray has to become involved to protect the ball before Dave Kearney and Tommy Bowe come to the rescue.
Another ball carry isn’t particularly profitable as Ireland’s inside centre attempts, unsuccessfully, to spin out of a tackle by Fofana.
But his next intervention was another that made the highlights reel and ultimately led to Rob Kearney’s try.
Off a strong Irish scrum, the Ian Madigan has full confidence in Henshaw to run at Mathieu Bastareaud in a pre-planned move. Showing a subtlety of footwork that bamboozles Bastareaud, the Connacht man propels Ireland into the opposition 22 before producing his sole off-load of the match to find Bowe and keep the attack alive.
The Try
Despite that lung-bursting break, Henshaw still had the hunger to further influence the attack that he had instigated. A mere eight seconds after he had passed to Bowe as he was being tackled to the ground, Henshaw is back in the Irish line and is receiving the ball from Murray - making another few metres that keeps the momentum flowing and forces a scrambling French defence to concede a knock-on to try and stall Ireland’s forward progress.
From the ensuing scrum, Henshaw has one more crucial card to play before Ireland’s opening try. As you would have seen from his involvement in the first-half break by Bowe that nearly led to Earls going clean through, Henshaw’s handling ability means that he’s often used as a playmaking hub in midfield (much like Jared Payne was used during the earlier pool matches).
This time, however, he’s asked to stand at first receiver and fix a defender before weighting an inside pass to Bowe. He immediately bounces back-up to keep himself relevant and leeches onto O’Brien to add his weight to the flanker’s push for the line.
When Kearney scores just seconds later, Henshaw is one of the two Irish players that are standing outside him.
Ireland opened-up an eight-point lead and France never looked like recovering.
At a time when Ireland were in search of new leaders, Robbie Henshaw delivered, big Time.
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