Sometimes, you do ask yourself what games people are watching.
Robbie Henshaw will admit it himself, he had a middling Lions Tour. While his defence was on-point, and impressed head coach Warren Gatland, he did not show enough in attack.
The Ireland international went into the summer tour tipped to push hard for a place in the Test XV but fellow midfielders Ben Te’o, Jonathan Davies and Jonathan Joseph got the jump on him. Once Gatland and his coaches started to seriously consider Owen Farrell as an inside centre option, he was resigned to midweek matches.
Like Ireland teammates Iain Henderson, Jared Payne and CJ Stander, Henshaw improved with each passing week of the tour. He could have forced himself into the matchday squad for the Second or Third Test but injured his shoulder in the draw with Hurricanes and flew home.
He returned for Leinster in October, though, and showed no ill effects from that summer knock. Rather, Henshaw looks to have kicked on again and has benefited from touring with the Lions. Fijian winger Nemani Nadolo has played Henshaw four times in the past 15 months and has tipped him to make an even bigger impact for the 2021 Lions.
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Henshaw’s good form on his Leinster return saw him paired up with Bundee Aki for the Connacht star’s Ireland debut, against South Africa, and he featured off the bench in the win over Fiji. A hamstring injury ruled him out of the final game, against Argentina, but he was back in time for Leinster’s Champions Cup games against Exeter.
If he was superb and committed in the away win, Henshaw was even better in the return leg at the Aviva Stadium. He stepped up to make a number of crucial carries, hits and clear-outs during a brutally tough game. His growing influence and leadership is now evident as he often puts it upon himself to deliver big impacts to spark his team, and fans.
On St Stephens’ Day in Limerick, he was immense. Leinster threatened to blow Munster off the park in a tremendous first half outing. Aside from landing a monumental 21 defensive tackles, Henshaw helped himself to a try after another great Jordan Larmour break.
Unbelievable from @henshawrob to round off a Christmas cracker for @leinsterrugby – can @Munsterrugby fight back from here? 🏉
Catch all the action now on @TG4TV and @SkySports to make sure you don’t miss a thing! 📺#GUINNESSPRO14#MUNvLEI pic.twitter.com/amDxYRk7nm
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) December 26, 2017
The evidence of Henshaw’s fine season would appear to be clear but not everyone is convinced. You will still find online criticism of him being blunt and unimaginative in attack but he is doing the job required of him at provincial and international level.
He has proved he has that creative spark in his spells at 13 and 15, and shows the odd flash at 12. A question asbout Henshaw not being in good attacking form was covered on The Hard Yards recently and it was met with the appropriate response.
“I’m pretty intrigued the games this guy has been watching,” former Leinster and Ireland flanker Kevin McLaughlin began, “because, for me, he grows in every game he plays.
“I wholeheartedly disagree with that. You talk to any coach or any person, or any player to have played alongside Robbie and they will tell you he is unbelievable to play with. You can just see it from watching him – the work he gets through, the big plays, he gets you over the gainline – he’s everything you’d want in a 12.”
James Downey, who played inside centre for Munster, Northampton and Ireland in his career, explained what makes Henshaw so good in that same role.
“He’s one of those lads who if you remove him you notice the hole. It’s like, ‘Oh, what’s going on there? Yes, he was there doing that job’.
“It’s seamless, what Robbie brings – his reads, his defensive plays, he carries. He is used in a certain [direct] way but if the team are trailing, he has the ability to change it up… He can switch it up.”
Perhaps Henshaw’s all-round ability and the fact that he can tick most boxes means he does not stand-out in some games but, as Downey declared, “What does he need to do, score hat-tricks?”
The lesson here is that you can’t please everyone, and never question Henshaw as a player in the presence of McLaughlin and Downey.
You can hear the full Robbie Henshaw debate from 1:01:00 below:
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