Henshaw shielded from No 13 pressure

The path has cleared for Robbie Henshaw to don the Ireland 13 jersey many believe he was born to wear, but the Ireland management want the pressure to stay off the Connacht youngster as long as possible.

With Saturday’s clash against Australia coming too soon for Jared Payne to recover from the sprained foot he injured two weeks ago while making his Test debut at outside centre against South Africa, midfield partner Henshaw is now in line to switch from the 12 to 13 jersey.

If he is selected to face the Wallabies, it will be the 21-year-old Connacht man’s fifth cap since making his Test debut as a teenager on the 2013 summer tour to North America, when he started at full-back for interim head coach Les Kiss against the USA.