Quality over quantity - Robbie Henshaw on his bench impact

Rugby players will often talk about the benefits of getting a couple of early touches to ease them selves into a game.

On Saturday, Robbie Henshaw had no such luxury.

When Garry Ringrose had to depart for a HIA just after the 20 minute mark in the 13-8 Rugby World Cup win against South Africa, Henshaw was straight into the game and faced with a daunting defensive task.

At the time, Ireland were 3-0 down and defending a scrum 15 metres out from their own line. Anything less than maximum concentration would allow the Springboks to march in and score.

Damian de Allende broke the first two tackles and brought them with inches of the line, and just as it looked like South Africa would power over, it was Henshaw who chopped Pieter Steph du Toit low in the legs, a tackle which allowed James Lowe to win a turnover.

The Ireland centre played on for just over 10 minutes before Ringrose was able to return (below), before returning again in the final quarter of an hour where he chipped in with another three important tackles.

"I suppose once that whistle blows when you're on the bench you need to be ready at any minute to come on," he says of his first half cameo.

Balancing energy is an interesting dynamic when a player is introduced for a HIA. In Henshaw's case, when he came on in the opening half he was unaware whether he was putting all of his energy into a 10-minute blast, or whether he'd need to ration his stamina across an hour.

"I suppose being mentally on it [is important], making sure you're just ready to go. I think that's the key and making sure you're just hitting the ground running, and don't have any second thoughts or doubts about anything and just offering as much energy as you can.

"You give that kind of positive impact, and