Robbie Henshaw talks Six Nations and the World Cup

Heads don’t so much turn as spin 360° Exorcist-style as Robbie Henshaw walks through the Athlone Shopping Centre. It’s obvious from all the waves and shouts of “Howaya, Robbie!” that the whole town is rooting for the local lad who still lives at home with his parents, and commutes daily to Galway where he’s been having another outstanding season with Connacht who are in the unusual position come February of still being in both the Pro12 and Rugby Challenge Cup running.

The 21-year-old has also been hitting the M6 quite a bit recently in order to meet up with his Ireland teammates at The Aviva and Carton House where they’ve been preparing this past fortnight for the Six Nations and the Rugby World Cup that follows.
Following eye-catching Autumn International performances against South Africa and Australia, which resulted in two Southern Hemisphere scalps being claimed, Henshaw has been hailed by everyone from Alan Quinlan and Will Greenwood to Andy Ward and BOD himself as the natural inheritor of Brian O’Driscoll’s number 13 shirt.
“Robbie’s a very quick learner,” O’Driscoll enthused after the Springboks victory. “He’s taken a lot on board. Reads situations very well. Good basic skills. Nice feet. Powerful. He’s a huge man – and an unbelievably nice fella!”
Henshaw, as low-key and self-effacing off the pitch as he is aggressive and confident on it, sensibly refuses to get caught up in all the hype.
“I used to think, ‘Oh no, cliché!’ when sports people said, ‘I’m taking it one game at a time’ but that’s absolutely what you have to do,” he proffers. “Dave Kearney making his Six Nations debut last season and then playing every minute of every game gives myself and the other new lads something to aspire to, but you could be out training tomorrow and injure yourself. As well as the autumn internationals went, I’m not a guaranteed starter and need, when I do get the opportunity, to keep proving myself.”
His first full 80 minutes in a green shirt being full of intelligent runs, deft kicking and bone-crunching hits against an almost freakishly large Springboks side didn’t come as any surprise to Connacht fans who’d known for the last two seasons that the lad’s a bit special. It was no surprise to his peers either, with Robbie the first person to win back-to-back IRUPA Young Player of the Year Awards.
“I’d never thought of myself as being small until I ran out onto the pitch against South Africa,” laughs Henshaw who at 6’ 3’ and 100kg is a bit of a man mountain himself. “They’re probably the most physically dominant team in the world. Those first few hits felt like running into a train. I like to throw myself into tackles, not be fearful and stick my body on the line for the team too, but Tendai Mtawarira and the du Plessis brothers charging at you is terrifying! You know their coach has said to them, ‘Go in hard on that young guy, he could be a weak link’, so it’s absolutely essential that you hang on in there and not let them intimidate you.”
Robbie reckons his rugby education “doubled, maybe tripled” playing against the Springboks.
“You can train and talk tactics until the cows come home, but you don’t really know what it’s like to come up against a Southern Hemisphere team until they’re in your face,” he resumes. “It gives you a taster of how experienced and skilful they are compared to European players. They’ve direct runners and a good kicking game from the number 9. Hougaard, Willie le Roux and their number 13, Jan Serfontein, are real handfuls so the fact we were able to contain them for large parts of the game was a huge confidence booster, especially with a World Cup coming up.
“Australia weren’t as big as South Africa, but they’re probably more agile, skilful and difficult to defend against. It was surreal being on the same pitch as Israel Folau who I’ve been following for a few years. That fandom, if you like, goes out the window at kick-off. One of the things Joe Schmidt kept stressing was, ‘You’re here on merit. Just because they’ve more caps doesn’t mean that they’re better than you. Play your natural game; intimidate them.’ He’s really encouraging.”
The first thing Robbie learned to play proficiently as a kid wasn’t rugby or GAA, but the box-accordion.
“Traditional Irish music has always been a big craze in my family,” he enthuses. “When I was about eight my granddad taught me this listening technique; he’d whistle into my ear and I’d play back what I’d heard. ‘Ships In Full Sail’, a jig, and ‘Sally Gardens’, a reel, were two of the first things I learned. I still get to take part in the odd session in Sean’s Bar and my local in Coosan Point.”
Indeed there’s evidence of this on YouTube.
“Er, yeah, from a couple of years ago,” he winces slightly. “I got to see Mumford & Sons in the Phoenix Park, which was great, and I’d be a big fan of Ben Howard as well. Christy Moore’s a bit of an idol; I was at Oxegen with my dad when he sung ‘Ride On’ with Coldplay.”
I’m sure if we asked nicely Christy would participate in an Irish Rugby World Cup song – we’d probably get his pal Damo Dempsey, too – with Robbie on accordion, naturally.
“That’d be amazing,” he smiles.”My girlfriend’s from Mullingar and knows Niall Horan – I’ve met him and he’s a great guy – so perhaps he’d do it as well?”
Rugby and music industry people, let’s make it happen! Is there a Connacht ghetto-blaster?
“There’s actually a big sound system in the dressing-room on which you’d get everything from Sam Smith to Avicii, it’s very varied. Ronan Loughney would put on a few easy listening songs; he plays the guitar himself.”
The Henshaw household was also a sporting one with his dad playing rugby and his sister big into her Gaelic.
“I played soccer, rugby and Gaelic; I was a Westmeath minor footballer and at 17 had serious aspirations to make the step up to the seniors. Eventually though I had to decide, ‘Which sport?’, and I chose rugby.”
Did that have anything to do with the fact you get paid for playing one and not the other?
“Honestly, no,” Robbie insists. “At the time I was enjoying my rugby that little bit more because of the physical aspect. If I retire from rugby and my body’s still able I’d like to go back and have a stab at playing Gaelic for the county. That’d be a goal for me.”
Henshaw was just 18 and barely out of school when he signed for Connacht. Did he have to bulk up to withstand the rigours of pro rugby?
“Yeah, the first thing they did was stick me on a programme. It was done gradually so as not to put on too much body fat, but I’m 15 kilos heavier than I was then which is a massive jump in weight. I do an hour in the gym twice a week, with an optional third session. It’s quite short and sharp, but they’re keeping an eye on you all the time to make sure you’re not slacking.”
If you’d been bold and scoffed a Tikka Masala and Naan Bread from the local curry house the night before, would they know?
“Yeah, you have to be sneaky about it if you’re going to be naughty! You have to eat what’s put out in front of you. Sometimes you might get a little treat for yourself after a game – you’d have your hood up hoping no one sees you – but there’s not much that gets past our nutritionist, Ruth Martin, who keeps hammering the positive eating message home.”
Asked to recall his full Connacht debut, Robbie sighs a little and says: “I had my school graduation the night beforehand – I got 435 points in my Leaving, which was way more than my parents expected! – and had to get up at five o’clock to fly to London, so there were no celebratory bubbles! It was against Harlequins at The Stoop and I managed to score a try, which was pretty cool. The step up in physicality was huge; I took a couple of hits that day which really hurt!”
Was there a Plan B in terms of what he’d have done if he hadn’t made it as a professional sportsman?
“I was thinking P.E. teacher or sports surgeon. I’ve always been interested in the lower-limbs, so something in the podiatry field maybe.”
Whilst you get the impression Henshaw is slightly embarrassed about the rave reviews he’s been receiving – he visibly reddens when I tell him how big a fan former Ireland international Alan Quinlan is – it must be nice having Brian O’Driscoll in one’s corner.
“Yeah, I really appreciate him backing me; it gives you that little extra bit of confidence. I’ve been lucky in terms of mentors; at my first Connacht training-session, Dan Parks, the Scotland international, came over and said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re alright, you’ve got this.’ From then on he was always talking to me on the pitch, helping me with what to do, where to go, whether to run or kick it back. He was really, really helpful in my development as a player.
“At the moment at Connacht I have the likes of Mils Muliaina, who played a hundred times for the All Blacks, to learn from. He was saying it was great coming to Ireland because for the first time in 15 years he was able to walk down the street without being asked for photos and stuff. Mils is a true role model.”
If he makes it to the World Cup, will Robbie ask Mr. Muliaina for advice on how best to handle New Zealand?
“I will but I don’t know if he’ll give it to me! I was 24th man for the game Ireland narrowly lost two seasons ago against the All Blacks. I was sat with the subs and the feeling when they scored that try to come back was just horrible. It haunted us for a few months afterwards.”
Does he find it hard to switch-off after a defeat?
“Yes, I’m really bad at it,” Robbie admits. “I can’t let it go sometimes. You’ll be reflecting in your head and going through what went wrong. I’ve been told by my parents, ‘You need to try and ease off.’ That’s just the hold the game has on you though; you just want to win all the time and improve and do well.”
If sorrows need to be drowned, are Robbie and his teammates allowed to go for a drink?
“There’s no restriction on alcohol at Connacht except when you’re playing the next day. If you want to go for a pint and unwind after a game you can, as long as you’re sensible. They treat you like an adult and trust you’ll behave accordingly.”
With the Springboks and Wallabies so convincingly put to the sword, Ireland fans are daring to dream of a 2015 Ireland Six Nations/World Cup double-whammy. A nagging concern though will be last year’s 13-10 defeat at Twickenham. How good are England?
“They were strong and dominant throughout the Six Nations, and probably feel that but for that French forward-pass against us in Paris they’d have won it,” he ventures. “They’ve talented players in every position and good depth too so they have to be among the favourites.”
Who would Robbie pick out as the key England men to stop?
“He’s injured at the moment, but Owen Farrell is world class; George Ford, the fly-half, is about the same age as me and developing at a scary rate; Mike Brown at full-back is a really talented player and the Bath centre, Jonathan Joseph, always makes a nuisance of himself.
“I don’t walk to be talking them up too much,” he laughs, “but England have a lot of talent.”
Despite it being played on Valentine’s Day, there’ll be no love lost when Ireland come up against France at The Aviva, especially as Phillipe Saint-Andre’s men are in the same World Cup pool as us.
“Whoever wins the Six Nations game will have a huge psychological advantage going into the World Cup,” Robbie acknowledges. “They’ve great forwards and an equally talented back line, so we’ll have to be 100% focused. It’ll be a really important first 10, 15 minutes; France are one of those teams whose game can be affected if you get inside their heads early on. On the other hand, if they get a couple of early scores they’re really difficult to come back against.”
What would constitute a good 2015 for Robbie Henshaw?
“Connacht finishing the season as strongly as we’ve started it; Ireland winning the Six Nations again and, for me personally, just getting to the World Cup.”
You know what they say about good things coming in threes...