It would be great to see Robbie Henshaw remain with Connacht and help them get to the next level. Having another Irish province push for European places can only be good for Irish rugby but, at the end of the day, it's not quite as simple as that. There'll be a lot to think about for the 22 year old over Christmas as talks kick off with the IRFU over his next contract.
He will be staying in Ireland, he has made that much clear, but which province we'll see him lining out for next season is not quite so certain. It had increasingly seemed that it was a fight (for want of a better word) between Leinster and Connacht but Munster haven't gone away and Anthony Foley wants to make sure fans know that.
Although he was very respectful of Connacht's position in all this, the Munster head coach confirmed that, if Henshaw does leave the Pat Lam's side, then Munster will want to have a say in the discussions.
I would imagine there would be a lot of clubs that would love a player of his capabilities in their squad. We wouldn't be saying no.
With Munster and Connacht lining up against each other on Saturday, Foley was unwilling to go any further with due respect for Pat Lam but he did add one final note in relation to Henshaw;
The player is an international player, so he has got to make his own decisions.
Henshaw himself has said as much over the past couple of weeks. While his contract will be with the IRFU, he has been clear that his destination will be up to him. With that in mind, Munster can certainly make a play to convince him that Thomond would be the best place for his development. In fact, you'd have to imagine those talks have already begun, whether Henshaw agrees with that line of thinking is another matter entirely.
