Rugby’s man of the moment not getting carried away

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

Connacht and Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw acknowledges that while a top six finish in the RaboDirect Pro 12 League is well within the province’s grasp – so securing them qualification for a revamped European Cup next season – the players’ ambitions go far beyond that.

Henshaw, who will become the first player since Eric Elwood (1995-’96) to receive back-to-back Galway Sports Stars Awards for rugby when the accolades are handed out at the annual black-tie banquet at the Ardilaun Hotel this Saturday night, is certainly representative of the ambition being nurtured at the Sportsground at present.

In many respects, his rise to prominence has gone hand-in-hand with Connacht’s elevation to serious challengers in the Pro12. Currently locked in at sixth-placed – only 11 points separate them from leaders Ospreys, with the other three Irish provinces and Glasgow lying in between – Pat Lam’s charges have come a long way.

The Irish international insists though that they have further to go. Top six may be the objective but a higher finish will define their level of ambition. “We are not settling for top six – for sixth position. We want to get beyond that and that is what we are looking towards,” states the Athlone native. “We feel we are well capable of getting up there in the top six and beyond.”

“The results over Christmas, we felt we could have taken more points off the other provinces. We missed out on a win up in Ulster; we were close enough in that we had the chances to put them away. Against Leinster, we let one of our bonus points slip. So, we missed a few points which probably could have put us up in the top five.”

Of course, they also lost their first home contest of the season against Edinburgh last weekend – so ending an unbeaten eight-game run at the Sportsground – but Henshaw says it is vital that the players regroup and begin to work towards overcoming the next challenge.

“Every time we go out on the pitch, it is not going to be a perfect performance –  a team rarely gives a perfect performance – so we just need to keep ourselves grounded and not look too far beyond,” continues the former Schools, U-18 and U-20s Ireland international.

“We look to each team and we look at each week and we prepare ourselves [accordingly] in what our goals are and how we are going to approach the game. We just take one week at a time and don’t look too far because we could just then get caught napping.”

Regardless of recent results – which included a stirring comeback to defeat Munster on New Year’s Day– Connacht have taken their game to a whole new level this season. “We are playing really nice rugby under Pat [Lam] – playing a good brand of rugby. We are not afraid to have a go when it is on, even if it’s from our own try line.

For  more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.