After coming away on the losing side of the scoreline in Saturday’s defeat to Harlequins, Ulster lock Iain Henderson is not standing on ceremony ahead of his next duties. Henderson returns to the Ireland camp today, as Andy Farrell’s men band together in preparation of retaining their Six Nations Grand Slam crown.
The Ulster captain explained how there has been no time to feel sorry for himself, after his side were eliminated from the Champions Cup at the Twickenham Stoop. Harlequins ran away with the match after a fiery first half, for a 47-19 win, to set-up their home round of 16 battle with Glasgow Warriors on April 5th.
“We are down in camp then, first thing on Monday morning, so it’ll be a quick turnaround, and there’d be no time to sit and feel sorry for ourselves. So we’ll get into (Ireland) training and try and flick our mindsets in terms of calls, line-outs, all of that across Ireland.
“And just with a handful of us (Ulster players) that are going down, to really make sure that we can get on that ball, make sure that we can hone our ears into that, and make sure we can give all we can through that first training week. Hopefully, and the six will hope for some representation in that first game.”
As Henderson highlighted, out of the 34-man Six Nations training squad that Farrell has selected, only six men make the journey to camp from Ulster. Henderson is joined by two men who scored against Harlequins in centre Stuart McCloskey and wing Jacob Stockdale, as well as prop Tom O’Toole, hooker Tom Stewart and back-row Nick Timoney. Contrastingly, Henderson lined-up against six England call-ups in last weekend’s defeat to Harlequins, and could well be on for a re-union when Ireland travel to Twickenham in the penultimate round of the Six Nations.
Henderson battled against the likes of established England names Marcus Smith, Danny Care, Alex Dombrandt and Joe Marler, as well as taking on some of the uncapped new breed in Chandler Cunningham-South and Oscar Beard. Having had the opportunity to work with Smith in the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, Henderson expected a tough afternoon when he lined-up against the talented halfback at the Stoop.
“We knew Marcus was going to be one of the massive threats. I’ve obviously trained with him in 2021 for a good bit, and I know what he can bring, watching from the outside I know the threats that he has. I felt for a lot of today, we felt that shut him down relatively well, but we switched off for one moment in that second half there and he makes a break and there’s a try, and that’s sort of the the threats that he brings.”
Looking at the Six Nations with a wider scope, Henderson is intrigued by the new-look landscape that is set out ahead of a fresh Rugby World Cup cycle. The lock discussed how most of the competing nations have had to adjust their squads, with the field looking like less of a two-horse race for the Irish and French front-runners.
“A wider view of the Six Nations, I’m really intrigued to see how things go. I know definitely at home for us, there’s been a few changes through Johnny (Sexton) leaving, a handful of a different new faces in. It’ll be the same in Wales, obviously the 10 spot is up for grabs.
“England fans are going be rejiggering, like the ‘carrot’ of the World Cup is not there anymore. (Antoine) Dupont potentially not there, Wales; not sure what they’re looking like, at the minute. It’s going to be really interesting to see who puts their hands up to grab it, but I’m looking forward to the next few weeks.”
Returning his attention to Ulster, and Henderson looks set to find a new lock partner following the Six Nations break. After running out an impressive performance against his former club, ex-Harlequins lock Kieran Treadwell was taken off the pitch, following a heavy collision with England loose-head Joe Marler. A post-match update from Ulster coach Dan Sopher suspected that Treadwell’s injury extent was potential broken ribs, with Henderson gutted for his teammate in what was a key match in his calendar.
“It’s frustrating for him, that his day ended earlier than he would have liked. And being in this club before, this is always an important fixture for him. And he gets excited when it comes here to play and I think he’s been doing really well, I thought he was really unlucky not to be selected in the Irish squad.
“Because he was pushing really hard, I think he had an unbelievable pre-season going into the World Cup last year and I think he’s been in good form and he’s only maturing as a player. I think he’s really taken hold of a leadership role in Ulster at the minute, he’s definitely the player going forward that’ll be a mainstay in the pack.”
Looking forward to the future of the Belfast club, Henderson believes that despite the set-back of being eliminated from the Champions Cup, his side can rally back in the second tier. Ulster now find themselves in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup, with an away trip to Montpellier booked in for April. Speaking on how he will turn this set-back into a positive, Henderson eyed up his first trophy with the club, after a 12-year stint at Kingspan Stadium.
“I’ve been at Ulster 12 seasons now, and no silverware. It’s an opportunity for silverware, and irrespective of it being in the second tier competition or in the league, Silverware has always every season been our goal. I know that’s a bit rich coming after an absaloute drubbing dropped one of the last couple of weeks.
“But like you said, we’ve seen we can pull it together and beat big teams. So it’s about us trying to find some form over the next number of weeks, to ensure that we can put ourselves in the best position to do that.”