Robbie Henshaw happy to make the hard yards for Ireland

The Six Nations is a draining affair so it was no shock to learn Robbie Henshaw opted for some down time at home rather than a trip abroad like a few of his colleagues when Joe Schmidt handed them a four-day pass last week.

Henshaw is more than just a head-down, ball-up-the-jumper centre but Schmidt tasks him with direct lines of running. He clocked in for 80-minute shifts against Scotland and France, and a bruised quad against Italy curbed his input in Rome to 48 minutes.

All that has taken a toll.