Quality over quantity - Henshaw on his bench impact

Rugby players will often talk about the benefits of getting a couple of early touches to ease themselves into a game.

On Saturday, Robbie Henshaw had no such luxury.

When Garry Ringrose had to depart for a HIA just after the 20-minute mark in the 13-8 Rugby World Cup win against South Africa, Henshaw was straight into the game and faced with a daunting defensive task.

At the time, Ireland were 3-0 down and defending a scrum 15 metres out from their own line. Anything less than maximum concentration would allow the Springboks to march in and score.

Damian de Allende broke the first two tackles and brought them within inches of the line, and just as it looked like South Africa would power over, it was Henshaw who chopped Pieter Steph du Toit low in the legs, a tackle which allowed James Lowe to win a turnover.

The Ireland centre played on for just over 10 minutes before Ringrose was able to return (below), before returning again in the final quarter of an hour where he chipped in with another three important tackles.

"I suppose once that whistle blows when you're on the bench you need to be ready at any minute to come on," he says of his first-half cameo.

Balancing energy is an interesting dynamic when a player is introduced for a HIA. In Henshaw's case, when he came on in the opening half he was unaware whether he was putting all of his energy into a 10-minute blast, or whether he would need to ration his stamina across an hour.

"I suppose being mentally on it [is important], making sure you're just ready to go. I think that's the key and making sure you're just hitting the ground running, and don't have any second thoughts or doubts about anything and just offering as much energy as you can.

"You give that kind of positive impact, and energy and communication, and let the lads know you're there.

"You might not even have done your warm-up behind the posts and you might be called in so I suppose that's the tricky bit of being on the bench, that you need to be ready at any stage.

"In terms of when I came on it was all hands on deck, we were defending our own line, so it was a tense moment. But it was just about making sure you get on there and be a positive impact and make sure you fit in."

Coming into the World Cup, one of the few selection debates in the Ireland starting XV was whether Henshaw or Bundee Aki (above) would be getting the 12 jersey to partner Garry Ringrose in the centre.

Through three games, there's little debate to be had. While Henshaw hasn't put a foot wrong, Aki has made the decision easy for head coach Andy Farrell; four tries in three games and two player of the match awards, he has been the standout player in the Ireland squad.

"He's been brilliant," Henshaw says of Aki.

"His body's in great shape. He's flying fit and he's had a great pre-season, as has Garry [Ringrose]. The lads are flying it, their performances have been consistent and rock solid and Bundee's been flying in terms of getting tries on the board. He's been letting us know that he's near the top of the try scorers list, which we've been having a laugh about.

"They've been outstanding and for me it's just whenever I get a chance to come in is to make sure I put my best foot forward and whenever I come off the bench making sure I put in a good performance."

With Stuart McCloskey also in the mix, Ireland's depth at centre is arguably the best in the competition.

Since Aki made his debut in November 2017 he, Henshaw and Ringrose have been swapping the 12 and 13 shirts back and forth, while McCloskey had also come into the rotation more and more in the last year.

It's been rare in those six years that Farrell has had a decision to make around his centre pairing though. The attrition rate has been high in midfield down the years, and this World Cup has been one of the few times since 2017 that the Irish coaches have had to pick between the group.

"There's always in the past - Six Nations, Novembers - there's always been one of us in or out due to injury or whatever.

"Hopefully we can keep us all fit. But the quality we have, we've great strength in depth in those positions, even the likes of Earlsy [Keith Earls] being able to come in at 13 and Jimmy [O'Brien], the depth we have here is key for playing in a World Cup because anything can happen."

For a player like Henshaw who has generally been a first choice selection for much of his career, playing from the bench is something he isn't hugely familiar with, but one he's happy to get stuck into if it leads to World Cup success.

"You start the week with the mindset of putting your best foot forward in training, being as competitive as you can and making sure when we know the team that they're prepared the best they can be. That's definitely a role of the guys who are not in that starting XV, making sure we prepare the lads.

"But then on the flip side, whenever you get your chance, it's being ready. Coming off the bench definitely isn't something I've been used to for a while but it's about making sure you give it your all when you get on and you positively impact the game."

He might be secretly hoping for one of Aki or Ringrose to be given a rest when Ireland return from their bye-week to play Scotland.

As impressive as it was for Ireland to grind their way to a win against the Springboks, their World Cup could be over in just over a week if they were to fall to a heavy defeat against the Scots.

And Henshaw knows they'll be coming up a Scotland side full of venom in Paris on 7 October.

"Every time we play Scotland we know they're going to come for us. Now we can see what it means to them and what they want to chase, and what we want to chase in terms of getting those four wins.

"They're going to come and have a go like they always do through Finn Russell and getting the ball to the width. They'll have a plan and we'll need to make sure we're rock solid and we attack it."

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.