LIKE A COMFORTING lullaby, the music of Christy Moore was once again echoing round the walls of Ireland’s team room on Wednesday.
Kildare’s finest export has made almost routine visits sing and speak with the national team over the years, yet nobody is growing weary of his performances.
On previous tour dates, Robbie Henshaw has been poised and ready play his accordion alongside Moore. This week however, the show was a surprise addition to the itinerary after a cull marked out the final 31-man squad.
Henshaw has enough to be preparing for anyway; his first match of the season with the World Cup just two weeks away.
“I’m just happy being back,” he says when asked if he would have liked more of a lead in. The Leinster centre has already proven himself able to hit the ground running..
“I’m pretty used to returning from injury, so thankfully this isn’t a return from injury.”
“A lot of work is done behind with the medical staff that gets you to that level. The speed of the game when you get to finals rugby is a step up again, but the work they put in definitely stands to you.”
If he leaves credit for the physical side with the S&C staff, Henshaw will hold up his end of the bargain by ensuring he is up to speed mentally, soaking in the detail needed to play in a Joe Schmidt side.
He will cover 12, 13 and, in an emergency, fullback. 15 was where he played his only part of the disappointing Six Nations, but his return to the fold now, in the centre, is one of the reasons fans expect a collective return to form from the 2018 Grand Slam winners.
The on and off the field work in Ireland camp requires constant concentration and enormous effort. While Six Nations and even tours can break those efforts into short, sharp bursts, a World Cup means that period of mental and physical exertion is prolonged for players.
A release valve can be vital. Ireland have had Henry Shefflin and Kellie Harrington in mingling with the group as fresh voices from outside the bubble, but still roughly cognisant of how they will feel approaching defining days.
“She was class,” Henshaw says of the lightweight world champion, “just to get their side of dealing with pressure and dealing with big games. They came around to different tables so we had a one on one chat like this.”
On the Second Captains podcast this week Paul O’Connell looked back on the cabin fever of the nightmare 2007 World Cup experience and the abundance of socialising that was encouraged on the 2009 Lions tour. Kicking back doesn’t necessarily mean hitting the town for smoke and strong whiskey, though.
“It is important that you get away from the intense environment that is here,” says Henshaw, who is still a long way off feeling fatigued by the schedule.
“We’ll have our days off (in Japan) but it’s going to be pretty intense I’d imagine. The beauty about the pre-season was that we moved around to different camps and that definitely helped and we had a week and a half out in Portugal as well, which was class.
“We didn’t do that in the last World Cup but there’s definitely been a few days of golf and stuff like that. So there’s definitely been a bit of chill-out time.”
And even without Christy Moore in Japan, Henshaw will have music to sink his mind into when the necessary time to tune out from rugby comes.
The accordion isn’t getting packed in his kit bag, but bagman John Moran will wield a banjo and Rhys Ruddock and Bundee Aki will bring guitars. The powerful centre says he might also go on the hunt for a new guitar himself, so Moore’s music could well get another airing in the coming weeks. Another chance for Tadhg Furlong to open up the pipes.
“Lads who never sing were singing along with (Moore). That eases the pressure
valve a little, helps us to switch off.”
“Tadhg Furlong actually was good, surprised us by knowing the words… eyes closed, leaning back in the chair.”
Ride on.
