Robbie Henshaw eager to show Leinster credentials

Parents may moan about the regularity with which clubs unveil expensive new jerseys but if it wasn’t for that, then we would still be wondering what Robbie Henshaw looks like in Leinster colours.

Still sidelined by a knee injury he brought with him when swapping Galway for Dublin, the Ireland centre’s public appearances have been limited to promotional duties for the club’s new away and European kits. How he fits in on the field remains to be seen, but he is at least back training and expects a warm welcome from teammates next week when he takes contact for the first time at UCD. He hopes to be trotting out in blue for his debut come mid-October for the Champions Cup second round date with Montpellier in France. Munster the week before is a vague possibility.

“It’s not ideal, to start off like that in a new club,” he admitted this week. “In a positive way, the time off did give me the opportunity to look around at the whole set-up and see how things are run in terms of meetings of the pitch. And then the training and matches on it: I’ve had that time to observe. But I would have been keen to play a few games and make an impact.”