Iain Henderson: ‘If we had to play this weekend we could’

GREEN IS THE COLOUR: Irish internationals Peter O’Mahony, Iain Henderson, and Ross Byrne are pictured at the launch of the new jerseys, which are on sale now via Intersports Elverys, in-store and on Elverys.ie and at Canterbury.com. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

One part of Iain Henderson digested last weekend’s Rugby Championship fare in Pretoria and Mendoza and wished he could tuck into something similar. Another part of him is perfectly happy to be out in Abbotstown for now, weeks still to wait before they can sate an appetite for game time.

Andy Farrell’s Ireland will sign off on a third week of pre-season tomorrow afternoon. They’ve already had one week ‘off’ since camp commenced in mid-June and another is just another eight days distant as the brains trust looks to fine-tune minds and bodies by testing rather than frazzling them.

These build-ups can be interminable and boring, marathons of sweat that can bring grizzled pros close to tears, but Henderson feels “lucky” to be in a system and a squad that has been integral to the plan put in place by the staff after discussions that started a good six months ago.

The theory will be that this democratic approach feeds into a playing group that feels a heightened sense of ownership as they prepare for the World Cup France. All that feedback has clearly led to a preparation stage which is steering away from the old adage of breaking people down just to build them back up again.

“It definitely feels we're a lot more about rugby,” said the Ulster lock who is facing into a third World Cup campaign. “I know that sounds silly but there's a huge emphasis on rugby and being the best rugby team we can be rather than being the best team in the gym or the best team on the pitch.

“Yes, obviously those things are… Doing broncos or whatever, yes you have to be fit and yes you have to be strong, but we feel like we've got a really good balance of doing both of those, not making it the most difficult pre-season physically just for the sake of it, to try and blow people out, to try and ruin people, to try and mentally strengthen people that way.” 

There is no mention of Joe Schmidt in any of this, no implied criticisms on his part, but the fact is that Ireland’s two World Cup campaigns under an otherwise remarkably successful Kiwi coach, ended in defeat and disappointment at the quarter-final stage.

PREP: Peter O’Mahony, Head Coach Andy Farrell, James Ryan and Iain Henderson. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Those Ireland players who reported into Farrell’s enlarged preliminary squad almost a month ago knew that they were walking into a confident and happy dressing-room where the momentum of a series win in New Zealand, a hat-trick of autumn wins and a Grand spring campaign were still showing fresh paint.

The contrast with four years ago could hardly be more stark. Schmidt’s Ireland came together in the summer of 2019 hoping to rediscover the spark that had delivered so much success until a Six Nations campaign that saw standards and certainty evaporate. Then one day in Twickenham in late summer reinforced everyone’s worst fears.

That 57-15 defeat was countered by warm-up wins against Wales (twice) and Italy but the sense of a side trying desperately to find itself as the tournament in Japan loomed ever closer was never far away. Even a convincing opening pool win against Scotland couldn’t change the tune.

“We were straight into that after Portugal and it felt leading into that (Twickenham) game that we were fatigued after that Portugal training week, the style of that week leading into the game,” said Henderson. “It felt like we were off the boil, it felt like we weren't fit enough.

“But, then again, that was still a fair bit out from the World Cup and, by a fair bit, I mean three or four weeks. That's a huge amount of time in terms of strength and conditioning to be able to refresh yourself and draw back on what you've done.” 

There isn’t any one path for teams to follow when it comes to this extended run-in. 

Warren Gatland had subjected his Wales players to a military-style camp and session soundtracked by crying babies. Ireland did a work session to the funky backing of a band called Riff Shop. Everyone is chucking different ingredients into the pot.

Henderson, though, does feel that this latest serving is different. Their GPS monitors will be packed with them tomorrow when they disperse for their week off. Gym sessions await back at their provincial bases. The plan is that they are hitting some straps by August 5th against the Italians. That’s five weeks before their opener against Romania in Bordeaux.

“The last time it felt more elongated, like a staged build-up to it,” the Ulster veteran explained. “It feels like the squad is in a good place and that if we had to play this weekend we could.”