Robert Anthony Henshaw (born 12 June 1993) is an Irish professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

club

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

and the Ireland national team. He previously played for

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

until 2016.

Early life

Born in

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

, Henshaw grew up in the suburb Coosan, and was a student at

Marist College Marist University is a private university in Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Marist was founded by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute, in 1905 to prepare brothers for their ...

in the town. In 2011, he was part of the Buccaneers Under 19 team that won Connacht League and Cup and the All Ireland League. He was captain of the school's rugby team in 2012 when they won their first Connacht Senior Schools Cup in 35 years. In addition to rugby Henshaw also played

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

in his youth. He played for the

senior team at just 18 years old, and played for the Westmeath minor team in 2010 and 2011. Henshaw comes from a sporting family with a history of involvement in the GAA, while his uncle David Henshaw played rugby for Buccaneers and Connacht. The family also has a lot of musical talent, with Henshaw himself playing the accordion, fiddle, guitar and piano. His musical and sporting versatility have earned him the nickname "One Man Band" and "Old Man Bob Henshaw" amongst his teammates.

Club career

Connacht

Henshaw was part of the under-age set up with

, and was part of the Connacht team that completed a Grand Slam in the Under-20 Interprovincial Championship in 2011. He entered the Connacht academy ahead of the 2012–13 season. Henshaw was given his first cap for Connacht's senior team by

Eric Elwood Eric Elwood is a former Irish rugby union player from Galway. He played as a fly-half. He played for Ireland internationally, and provincially for Connacht. He was on the Coláiste Iognáid team that won the Connacht Schools Rugby Senior Cup ...

on 1 September 2012. He replaced Eoin Griffin at outside centre against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

in the opening game of the 2012–13 Pro12. Henshaw made a total of 17 appearances in the competition, with all but three of these coming as starts, and scored his first try for the side on 12 April 2013 against

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He predominantly played as a fullback over the course of the season. Henshaw made his European debut for the province in Connacht's opening pool fixture of the

2012–13 Heineken Cup The 2012–13 Heineken Cup was the 18th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The tournament began with two pool matches on 12 October 2012 and ended with t ...

against

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

on 13 October 2012, and went on to start in all of Connacht's Heineken Cup matches that season. In December 2012, Henshaw signed his first senior contract with the province, a two-year deal keep him with the province until the end of the 2014–15 season. Ahead of the 2013–14 season

left the province and was replaced with

Pat Lam Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby. Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 ...

. Despite the change of coach, Henshaw continued to play regularly for Connacht, being used both at fullback and centre. He played 18 times in the

2013–14 Pro12 The 2013–14 Pro12 (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Pro12 rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the fourth with its current 12-team format, and the third with ...

, starting all but one of these games and scoring three tries. Henshaw also started all six of Connacht's games in the 2013–14 Heineken Cup, including a victory over

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

in France. Henshaw signed a contract extension with Connacht in November 2013, extending his time with the province to summer 2016. In the 2014–15 season, Henshaw spent more time with the Irish team so did not feature as much for Connacht. He played 12 times in the league, starting each time, and scoring a try against the

. In Europe, Connacht took part in the 2014–15 Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition. Henshaw started four of the team's six pool stage matches, scoring two tries against

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

, and the quarter-final against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. He also started in Connacht's final game of the season a

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

for the final spot in the 2015–16 Champions Cup. Connacht again faced Gloucester away, and were leading 18–25 in the final minutes of the game, but a controversial penalty decision from Romain Poite gave Gloucester a try-scoring opportunity and sent the match to extra time, after which Gloucester emerged 40–32 victors, Henshaw having played the full 100 minutes. Henshaw missed Connacht's opening games of the 2015–16 Pro12 due to the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

. He returned to the squad in October, but was not available to play until November, when he was named in the side against Benetton Treviso. On 14 February 2016, it was confirmed by Connacht Rugby that Henshaw would be leaving the province at the end of the 2015–16 season. He decided to join Leinster Rugby after the 2015–16 season On 28 May 2016, Henshaw was part of the Connacht team that won their first ever major trophy, the 2015–16 Pro12 after a 20–10 win against

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Leinster

On 8 October 2016, Henshaw made his debut for Leinster in a 25-14 Pro12 win against

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

International career

Ireland U20

Henshaw represented Ireland at various under-age levels during his development. In November 2011, he became the first player from

or any Athlone-based school to represent the Irish schools team, and was part of the team that won the Under-18 European Championships. He also represented the country at under-19 level. Henshaw was named in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

training squad for the

2013 Six Nations Championship The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

, and played 58 minutes at fullback for the Ireland Wolfhounds in a friendly against England Saxons on 25 January 2013. Henshaw was released from the senior squad in February and made his debut for Ireland Under-20 on 8 February 2013, starting at fullback in the side's 16–15 victory against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Ireland

Henshaw was called up to the Ireland squad for the 2013 end-of-year rugby union tests. He came off the bench against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 16 November 2013, firstly as a blood-replacement for

Brian O'Driscoll Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside Centre (rugby union), centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster Rugby, Leinster and for Ireland national rugby union te ...

and then as a replacement for Rob Kearney. Henshaw started for Ireland Wolfhounds in their friendly against England Saxons on 25 January 2014. Henshaw was named in Ireland's 34-man squad for the opening two fixtures of the 2014 Six Nations Championship but did not play in the tournament. He made two appearances in the 2014 end-of-year international wins against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

. In 2015, Henshaw was included in the Ireland squad for the 2015 Six Nations Championship. On 1 March 2015, Henshaw scored his first try for Ireland in a 19–9 victory over England in Ireland's third game of the 2015 Six Nations. Henshaw was included in the Irish squad for the

. After missing out on a place in the first pool stage games against Romania and Canada, Henshaw resumed his role in the starting team for his World Cup debut against Italy. Henshaw went on to play full games against both France and Argentina, the latter of which saw Ireland reach the end of their World cup journey. On 5 November 2016, Henshaw scored the winning try against New Zealand in Soldier Field, Chicago. Henshaw received the ball off an attacking five-metre scrum and beat three tacklers to touch down. In March 2023, Henshaw was part of the Ireland team to win the Grand Slam, only the fourth time in history that Ireland had won.

British & Irish Lions

Henshaw was a member of the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand. Henshaw was sent home early after an injury against the Hurricanes, having started against the Chiefs, Highlanders and Blues through the tour. Henshaw was joined on the ride back home by fellow injured back George North. Henshaw was also named in the squad for the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa. Henshaw started at 12 and 13 in all three tests, being one of 9 players to do so.

Honours

;Ireland *5x

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

* 4× Triple Crown:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

*2x Grand Slams:

;Connacht *1x Pro 14: 2015/16 ;Leinster *4x Pro 14: 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 *1x European Champions Cup:

References

External links

* *
Leinster ProfileIreland ProfileBritish & Irish Lions ProfilePro14 Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henshaw, Robbie Living people 1993 births Alumni of the University of Galway Athlone Gaelic footballers British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Buccaneers RFC players Connacht Rugby players Gaelic footballers who switched code Gaelic games players from County Westmeath Ireland international rugby union players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players People educated at Marist College, Athlone Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Athlone 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players