Leinster centre Robbie Henshaw pulled off a feat of brilliance in Leinster’s weekend Champions Cup win over Montpellier. After getting easily bumped aside by a streaking Nemani Nadolo, Henshaw managed to gather himself not only for the tackle, but the turnover as well.
At this point in the second half, Montpellier were down by 12 and on the attack. Most defenders would have nightmares about Nadolo suddenly appearing on such a short line, and that’s exactly what happened, thus leaving Henshaw very little time to even realize he’s about to be run over.
Thankfully he wasn’t left unconcious on the ground and he was able to gather his wits, instinctively falling in just the right direction to make the perfectly timed low tackle.
After the match, he spoke about the play and just how difficult it is to stop a winger with that size and pace.
“Initially, I didn’t expect him to come on that short line. Then he just appeared in front of me and obviously steamrolled me over,” Henshaw explained.
“I kinda smirked, I think, in the moment because I knew I was a goner but I just managed to get back to my feet and chop him by the two ankles and thankfully, we gained the ball back… He’s definitely a really tough player to handle one on one.”
Despite Nadolo adding two more tries to his tally, Leinster won the match in Dublin 24-17.
Henshaw post match interview:
credit: leinsterrugbyTV/icameron
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