Henderson aiming to make a major impact

He might have missed a chunk of the season so far, but Ireland international Iain Henderson is determined to make up for lost time by maintaining Ulster’s 100% record in Europe and grab an all-important home quarter-final tie.

A lock by trade, he earned his colours as a blindside flanker with Ireland, and now that he has recovered from a broken toe and hamstring injuries, he will be used in some capacity by coach Mark Anscombe tomorrow when Ulster face Leicester Tigers to decide the honours in Pool 5.

The 21-year-old from Craigavon in Armagh is now just happy to pull on the jersey again as he knows his injuries could have been worse like his house-mate and fellow international Stuart Olding who is out for the rest of the season following reconstructive knee surgery.

“I tore my hamstring against Edinburgh, I found it very frustrating at the time but I live with Stuart so I just needed to look across the sofa at him with his cast on and his foot up and, of course, it is unfortunate for him,” said Henderson.

“I was supposed to come off the bench [against Munster] then Johann Muller strained his calf and it was a good one to come into to, it was fantastic to get the win.

“It was a big Munster pack we were playing against and even BJ [Botha] coming off the bench, they managed to maul us all over the park. We needed that and it is something we have been working on because we know that Leicester will target that area.

“We have been talking a fair bit about discipline to stop Leicester getting their maul going and we have to do it around the middle of the pitch to stop them kicking to the corners and getting their big driving maul going.

“You try not to let it get set to start with, you either sack it or completely blitz it, you try not to give away a penalty of a driving maul by stopping it instead of pulling of down. We just have to sit in and hold it square and let the referee see it has stopped and force the scrum-half to play the ball.”

Henderson has been named in Joe Schmidt’s 44-man panel for the Six Nations and knows that, if utilised, he will have to perform.

“It’s difficult to get into a game from the bench,” said the former Queen’s University student who played 20 times for the Ireland U20s.

“In my first year with the U20s I came off the bench every time and found it awful trying to get into a game that had been going for 65 minutes and trying to make an impact. Then you are trying to catch your second wind I find it harder to catch my breath coming off the bench as everything is so fast.

“I’m improving that part of the game and making myself more of an impact from the bench and make myself suited for an Irish team.”