Robbie Henshaw hands Ireland welcome Six Nations boost

Joe Schmidt unveils his Six Nations squad on Wednesday afternoon.

The Kiwi coach has seen his options from back to front decimated over the last number of weeks, with key players such as Tommy Bowe and Iain Henderson ruled out of the tournament and a host of others looking doubtful for the opener against Wales. In that category fell Robbie Henshaw, who has failed to play any rugby since before Christmas after suffering an arm injury in the PRO12 win over Munster at Thomond Park. The Ireland centre was set to make his comeback a number of weeks ago but a setback in his recovery was discovered when seen by a specialist earlier this month. But finally, sweet lord finally, the 22-year-old may be nearing a playing comeback. According to the Irish Times, Pat Lam confirmed today that the Athlone man should be in line to feature for Connacht's final Challenge Cup group game this weekend against Enisei-STM.

“He had the scan last week and the surgeon said he was not quite ready which is the reason he didn’t go to Brive. Now it’s the second week, and again he feels pretty good with it.

“He will train all this week and prepare to play, and then we will need the final sign off from the surgeon.”

Henshaw's return should be a major boost to Joe Schmidt's Six Nations plans with the Ireland coach hopeful of seeing the centre feature for as long as possible for his province ahead of the opening game on 7 February.