If Dublin is to witness the battle of the skies as widely expected on Saturday, the team announcements came on Thursday with no little irony. Lining up in Dublin will be one faltering full-back, another from left field. Eddie Jones has kept faith with Elliot Daly; Joe Schmidt is taking a leap of it with Robbie Henshaw.
Of course, Ireland’s forensic head coach on Thursday provided a sizeable body of evidence – as only he can – as to why he has the utmost confidence that Henshaw, who has not started an international in the No 15 jersey since his debut in 2013, will thrive in the position he used to occupy for Connacht.
He has, according to Schmidt, played more often at full-back than at centre in his career, having started out there until Ireland’s head coach suggested that Pat Lam move him to the Connacht midfield. He is rock-solid defensively, was a proficient Gaelic footballer in his youth and it was a match-winning intervention from Henshaw when these sides met here in 2015, climbing above Alex Goode to claim Conor Murray’s kick and dot the ball down.
“I think he is exceptional in the air,” said Schmidt. “Obviously England will remember well four years ago was the defining moment in that win we had here, when he went up against Alex Goode in the one-to-one in the end goal, and it was quite an exceptional catch. To get the ball down was [also] exceptional.
R Henshaw (Leinster), K Earls (Munster), G Ringrose (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), J Stockdale (Ulster), C Murray (Munster), C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster, capt), T Furlong (Leinster), D Toner, J Ryan (both Leinster), P O’Mahony (Munster), J Van Der Flier (Leinster), CJ Stander (Munster). Replacements: S Cronin (Leinster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), A Porter (Leinster), Q Roux (Connacht), S O’Brien (Leinster), J Cooney (Ulster), J Carbery, J Larmour (both Leinster).
“He is incredibly committed defensively, he will absolutely deliver at tackle time and he is a smart attacking player. He’ll get himself into the backline and he’ll offer himself as a ball carrier or as a link player. So, I think he has got the full spectrum of skills required to play the position and we would love it if that was evident on Saturday.”
It is also a move made to add flexibility to his squad with this year’s World Cup in mind, and Schmidt revealed that he almost made it against Australia last summer. But it is a display of supreme confidence – one that comes with the kind of 12 months Ireland have just had – for a match the New Zealander has effectively described as “win or bust”.
He added: “[The first match] is pivotal and it always is pivotal. Can you win the championship and lose the first game? Yes. The maths say you can but that would be a hell of an achievement if you manage to do that I’d rather not be trying to work those mathematics out. It wouldn’t be a strong point of mine. I’m an ex-English teacher, I’ll do the words not the maths.”
So how did Henshaw take the news? “I tell you what, if I said to Robbie: ‘Look Robbie thinking of putting you at No 8’, he would look a bit bemused but say: ‘I just need to get the calls,’” said Schmidt. “He is a solutions man, he is not a problems man. He is a guy who goes out there and says: ‘That is a challenge I will find solutions, I am going to grow the solutions.’ He has still played more at No 15 in his rugby career than he has at 12. So, the innate understanding of what is required from 15 is still there.”
In other words, Henshaw has a feel for full-back, he just needs to rekindle it, whereas Daly is still finding his and in that sense it speaks to the wider narrative of this match. Ireland – “methodical”, according to Jones; “boring”, says his assistant John Mitchell – are utterly comfortable in their own skin while you sense England are still trying to find their identity.
Schmidt, however, sees the dangers rather than the deficiencies, in Daly’s game. “Maybe there’s a bit of inexperience from Robbie and Elliot that may cause a bit of angst but from what I’ve seen of Elliot playing 15 I think he’s got great skills to play there,” said Schmidt. “He gives them that left-footed option as well, so he’s got a fair few strings to his bow, Elliot Daly.”
Henshaw’s selection at full-back also means an intriguing battle in midfield. For it allows Garry Ringrose to continue there with Bundee Aki, who locks horns with another hard-hitting centre of Samoan heritage in Manu Tuilagi. It will be their first meeting on the international stage, or even at senior level, but they have crossed paths once before, as Aki recalled on Thursday.
Aged 16, Aki moved to Truro College in Cornwall for two years and during the 2006-07 season he encountered Tuilagi playing on the wing for John Cleveland College. Aki also remembers well his opposite number steamrollering his teammate Josh Matavesi – the Fiji international now of Newcastle – in a victory for Tuilagi’s side.
“He was a young kid back then. I remember playing that game,” said Aki. “It was me and Josh Matavesi playing in that same team. That was the only time back then, but I didn’t go up against him as he was obviously out on the wing so I stayed away.
“He wasn’t that big but he was very strong, still as strong as he is now. I remember him rolling over Josh.
“He is a very good ball carrier and very fast as well for a big boy. Coming back from injury he obviously wants to put a statement out there and he has been playing good footy in the Champions Cup. It’s obviously going be just as much of a task as in every other game. He will be a big ball carrier threat. It will be interesting.”