Brian O’Driscoll has praised Leinster centre Robbie Henshaw for his ability to recover in time for the Champions Cup semi-final with the Scarlets on Saturday.
Henshaw has not played since Ireland’s Six Nations win over 56-19 win over Italy in February after injuring his shoulder in the lopsided win.
The IRFU said after the injury that Henshaw had undergone a procedure on his shoulder and that he would be ruled out for the remainder of the championship.
Leinster were aiming to get the 24-year-old back before the end of the season and O’Driscoll, who spent 15 years in the Leinster midfield, said that it was incredible to see Henshaw back after a full shoulder reconstruction.
Absolutely incredible that @robhenshaw is back playing today after a full shoulder reconstruction 10 weeks ago. To dispel any rumors it was a lesser injury it wasn’t! Massive credit to him, the Leinster medical staff and the surgeon for being so cutting edge (yep excuse the pun) pic.twitter.com/lD7DLrKu4k
— Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) April 21, 2018
“Absolutely incredible that @robhenshaw is back playing today after a full shoulder reconstruction 10 weeks ago,” O’Driscoll wrote on his Twitter account.
“To dispel any rumors it was a lesser injury it wasn’t! Massive credit to him, the Leinster medical staff and the surgeon for being so cutting edge (yep excuse the pun).”
The news everyone wanted to hear for big Robbie Henshaw 💪 pic.twitter.com/YLEKFmL7iK
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 16, 2018
Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster had no concerns about Henshaw starting in what is his first game in 70 days and added that the former Connacht utility is in the best condition he’s seen him in since he joined the club in 2016.
“It was great to have him back on the field, as 24th man [against Treviso], last week… He’s a world-class player, in my opinion, and the one player you didn’t want to lose when we did. It’s a huge bonus to have him back.
“He’s in the best condition we’ve ever seen him. If you look at how they measure the players – he has achieved his quickest speeds and he’s done his best fitness test – he looks lean and fit. He’s such a good player. He’s been in every meeting so he’s prepped and ready.”
