McCloskey credits Henshaw as the 'eyes' powering Ireland's midfield against Fiji

Stuart McCloskey has credited Robbie Henshaw as the architect of their Ireland midfield partnership, telling reporters the Leinster centre acts as his ‘eyes’ and does the unseen work that allows him to thrive.

McCloskey, nominated for the 2026 Six Nations Player of the Championship, reunited with Henshaw in Ireland’s 42-12 Nations Championship victory over Argentina last Friday — their first appearance together in the Irish midfield in more than a decade. The previous occasion was McCloskey’s senior debut against England at Twickenham in the 2016 Six Nations.

“Rob is great at wanting the ball all the time,” McCloskey said at a press conference. “He works really hard off the ball to get extra touches and to link with the back three. So he’s sort of the eyes for me. He works incredibly hard, does all the work that makes me look good.”

Despite the warmth of the praise, McCloskey kept his assessment of their performance against Argentina measured. “We’ve had a lot of time together, a lot of training sessions together — it’s pretty seamless,” he said. “I thought we both went solidly, if not spectacular.”

The Ulster centre and Henshaw are expected to continue in midfield when Ireland face Fiji in Dublin on Saturday, with Leinster’s Garry Ringrose ruled out through a hamstring injury.

Ireland head into the match third in the Nations Championship’s northern hemisphere table after three wins from four games. McCloskey acknowledged the physical threat Fiji pose but suggested Ireland will look to impose their structure rather than engage in a war of attrition.

“When they get it right they can be incredibly physical,” he said. “We’ll go after them in different ways and will hopefully be a bit more structured than they are. Hopefully we won’t get too much into an arm wrestle with them — we’ll try to let our shape do the work, give us one-on-ones instead of running into brick walls.”

“It’s good once or twice a year to have a game this physical,” McCloskey added, signalling that Ireland are under no illusions about the challenge Fiji will bring to Dublin.