‘Breaking ball, absolutely. The scraps are going to be huge’

There was a time early on in his career when it was almost mandatory to precede Robbie Henshaw’s name with the phrase ‘former Westmeath minor footballer’ given his three Leinster Championship appearances for the county.

Ultimately, that chapter in his sporting story fell some way short of satisfactory. One win against Carlow in 2010 and a pair of defeats to Longford — the second coming in 2011 — was about it at that level for a kid who featured at full-back, centre-back, and in midfield.