Robbie Henshaw is Ireland's biggest worry ahead of the third and deciding test with South Africa next week. Henshaw went down late in the devastating second test, and was on the ground when South Africa scored a try. Early indications say that it's a knee issue, but Schmidt wasn't sure what that meant for next week:
It’s probably gonna take about 48 hours to be honest. There’s certainly plenty of fatigue there. Obviously, Robbie Henshaw copped a knock in the knee. It’s a little bit inflamed so it’s going to take probably 24 hours for the swelling to go down before we can get a decent look at it. We’ll just see how that goes.
The injury to Robbie Henshaw would leave the Ireland squad in quite a pickle.
There isn’t anyone in the touring squad that has the same ability as the Leinster centre, and the three contenders to replace Henshaw at 13 would risk upsetting some of Ireland’s best play during the tour so far.
The obvious contender is to bring Jared Payne back in. Should Henshaw be ruled out, this would be Schmidt’s odds-on favourite to resume his defensive role. But Irish fans everywhere will attempt to implore Schmidt to leave Payne at fullback. The Ulster back has looked electric from deep, and bringing him into the centres negates his attacking prowess for defensive solidity. It’s like playing James McClean to put them under pressure, and telling him to stand off the opponents.
He could also bring Keith Earls into the centre - which Schmidt has done before. That would mean that Gilroy probably keeps his place on the wing, or allows a debut to Matt Healy. The issue with that would be whether Earls is defensively sound enough having not played in the 13 channel in a while. Earls proved in August that he can do it, but you’d wonder if he can on a week’s notice. Besides, his form on the wing has been very good.
My preferred choice would be to slot Luke Marshall in his place. Marshall has to be in the team somewhere, he was too good in the first test to leave out - and if Henshaw is ruled out, then Olding gets a reprieve. Besides - Olding and Marshall have played together in the centres before - which is a big benefit.
Conundrums like this do make you look forward to when Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki are knocking down the door. Or why Stuart McCloskey wasn’t in the squad. I’d be happiest with a McCloskey/Marshall combo - like Ulster had for the majority of the season.
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Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
