Robbie Henshaw is emitting an impressive range of pained grandad noises, as he relaxes on his Monkstown sofa with the golden retriever, Kobe, that him and his housemate Jordi Murphy have been co-parenting.

“It was a really tough game with some big hits, so I’m aching all over,” he says of the previous night’s bruising 24-24 draw between Leinster and Castres Olympique over in France. “We were disappointed not to win, but I managed to get a couple of tries, which makes up for the battering!”

With Connacht losing 19-10 over in Toulouse, Leinster now have a tasty Champions Cup Quarter-Final home tie against Wasps to look forward to, at the start of April.