ONE PLAYER’S NAME kept coming back to Iain Henderson as he attempted to sum up the core element of what makes this Ireland team function so well.
Will Addison tackled by Bundee Aki in training at Carton House last week Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO
Will Addison isn’t an outlier. Indeed, given he is one of the newest arrivals to the squad, some might expect him to need extra time to bed into the culture and minutiae of details required in a Joe Schmidt setup.
But the example Henderson points to relates to how well-prepared Addison was to start against Argentina, even though the role that was not thrust his way until a pre-match warm-up injury took down Robbie Henshaw.
“(Addison) probably could have taken the foot off the accelerator a bit on Tuesday afternoon when he realised he wasn’t going to be in the 23, eased off and wind down for the week,” says Henderson.
“Whereas, he stayed on the ball, trained really well all week and that’s what Joe likes to see. Joe likes to see people putting in that extra effort and then he is rewarded on matchday and has a good performance.”
Addison’s diligence was one small part of this November Test window, but it speaks to the wider ethos in the squad.
The 26-year-old newcomer with a Cumbrian accent showed a brand of leadership in that week.
Every member of this squad is empowered to lead in some form: Rob Kearney is imperious in the back-field, CJ Stander never shirks the need to do a task at 100%, Bundee Aki is magnificently confrontational, Rory Best is a calm and measured voice as captain while his vice-captains Peter O’Mahony and Johnny Sexton simmer with venomous intent throughout their time on the field.
Henderson and Aki celebrate the final whistle. Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO
“Who would you not expect to be a leader and I’ll let you know if they’re a leader or not,” came a pointed response from Henderson when asked to name a player we might not expect to lead from within the ranks.
“I think most of the players in the squad show qualities; taking the bull by the horns, so to speak, or really having outstanding acts in games stuff like that.
“Or training well. Because if you don’t train well or prepare well you probably wouldn’t last a huge amount of time in this squad.
“And yes, there are maybe players who come in and don’t train well or don’t prepare well and then they learn from leaders like Rory, Johnny, Pete. They see how they train and how they prepare, they see they study the opposition and how they understand all the roles in any patterns, line-outs, plays, and then all of a sudden that’s like a filtering down process… I think that is what a good leader is, creates new leaders around him.”
A name is put to Henderson, Garry Ringrose — the boy next door, the nice guy smiling politely to one and all while holding himself impeccably — the man who was pointing fingers and laying down the law in the pre-match huddle and knitted a steely defensive back-line together throughout the 80 minutes.