Isaac Boss, Lynn Cantwell, and Donal Lenihan joined Joanne Cantwell on RTÉ's Against The Head on Monday night for the usual review of the weekend's rugby action.
Among the topics discussed were the battle for Ireland's 10 shirt between Paddy Jackson and Johnny Sexton, which you can check out on RTÉ's website, and Ireland's potential gameplan against the French in less than two weeks' time.
One chat of particular interest, however, was the more scarcely discussed issue of Joe Schmidt's deployment of Robbie Henshaw as a 'battering ram' in the Irish midfield.
To the bemusement of Connacht fans in particular, who saw him produce a wider array of skills out west, Henshaw has been used by Ireland as a bludgeon in Ireland's opening two fixtures, such is considerable size and strength. The argument amongst many Irish fans is that he offers much more which simply isn't being explored within Schmidt's current system; Henshaw has barely broken a tackle in two of Ireland's more favourable fixtures - instead crashing it up the middle in an attempt to bash Ireland over the gain line.
And yet it hasn't been discussed much in media terms. Perhaps, following defeat to Scotland, there were more pressing concerns. It is nonetheless a valid notion, and Joanne Cantwell posed the question to the RTÉ panel.
Against The Head Panel Discusses Robbie Henshaw... by ballsandmauls
The Athlone man has scored two tries in 24 starts for Ireland, both of them - versus England and the All Blacks respectively - crucial to Ireland's achieving two famous victories.
He dotted down 11 times in 76 games for Connacht, and has two in his first nine appearances to the east.
A modest try count is somewhat skewed by his immensity in other areas of the pitch; he is, already, an auxiliary back row at the breakdown, and in terms of backs, might be the best rucker and protector of possession in Europe.
As touched upon, too, by the Against The Head panel, his lack of explosive bursts versus Scotland and Italy may be born of the inexperience around him. In top-level international terms he is the senior figure in Ireland's current 10-12-13 axis, and as such is perhaps expected to take less risks, make gain line yardage and simply secure clean ball.
When you watch him in Ireland's defensive line minus Jared Payne, Henshaw is the stand-in organiser-in-chief, and tends to guide his provincial teammate Ringrose through Andy Farrell's new rearguard. And he's done so effectively bar a shoddy half hour in Murrayfield during which Ireland seemed mentally ill-prepared. Frankly speaking, Henshaw could himself have driven the bus to the stadium, arrived on time, and Ireland may still have conceded early scores.
It's been a similar at Leinster when Johnny Sexton has been injured; on Henshaw's inside have stood the less experienced Joey Carbery and Ross Byrne, where outside him again has been a raw talent in Ringrose. In such fixtures, versus Munster at Thomond Park for instance, Henshaw has been a front-up runner and has made fewer inroads than we've grown accustomed to seeing over the past three seasons.
They key difference when Henshaw is motoring outside Sexton at both provincial and international level is that Ireland's first-choice 10 takes the ball extremely flat, and is both sufficiently physical and dangerous a playmaker to offset the opposition's defensive shape. Where in Murrayfield Paddy Jackson was forced deep by a combination of his ball-carrying forwards' failures and his own poor play, Sexton tends to take the ball up close and at pace, an approach more conducive to carving gaps in midfield without requiring the wrap-around upon which Ireland have frequently depended in their opening two games of this year's championship.
Of course, there are three Six Nations fixtures remaining, and while he was at fault for France's winning score in Paris last year, his borderline maniacal display in Cardiff against the same opposition during the Rugby World Cup bodes well for two weeks' time. Henshaw made 17 carries for 73 metres gained, beating four defenders. He also made his usual seven colossal tackles, and spent half of his outing at the breakdown.
After victory in that World Cup fixture, Trevor Hogan described Henshaw's performance against France for 15 minutes either side of half-time as the best he'd ever witnessed, and on par with a certain hat-trick in Paris in terms of its impact.
Of course it was Ian Madigan, and not the stricken Sexton, who took the ball flat and teed Henshaw up for his rip-roaring break through the middle on 48 minutes. But should Sexton return to the starting XV - or indeed should the capable Jackson display more of the playmaking ingenuity he dabbled with in Rome - we may yet see Henshaw back to his explosive best.
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The Leinster centre has retained his ferocious intensity in the collision, but in a Lions year, will need to produce more offensive yards to justify a starting position. More pertinently, Ireland will require it in the weeks ahead.
Perhaps, as Lenihan, Cantwell and Boss describe above, the relative inexperience surrounding him has seen him kept on a leash. But expect Schmidt to release the hound on February 25th.
See Also: A Tribute To The Gordon D'Arcy/Brian O'Driscoll Bromance
