When he selected Robbie Henshaw as fullback over Rob Kearney and Jordan Larmour, it was not having played there at international level since his debut against the USA and with just 62 minutes game time in his legs since October. The post-match press conference was no place to hang out dirty linen and a cautious Schmidt declined to be critical about Henshaw. In that breakdown Henshaw was a busy and willing fullback, although from early in the match some of his plays looked uncomfortable. On 21 minutes Henshaw was again running the ball out of the Ireland half and had not yet kicked for relief. It was Stockdale, who previously said that when he played with Kearney at fullback, it was something of a revelation for him.

Source: The Irish Times February 04, 2019 06:00 UTC