Rugby: Henderson rings up Lions selection

A casual flick through the Yellow Pages enabled Rob Henderson to transform his career from a useful club player to Lions tourist.

A noted crash-ball specialist for Wasps, Henderson sought to supplement his strong-running game with a touch of finesse and turned, quite by chance, to speed and fitness advisor Warren Loughlin.

"Initially, I started calling round athletics clubs looking for a speed coach," the international centre explained.

"But then I was just looking at the Yellow Pages and Warren’s was the first name I saw.

"He was just down the road from me so I called him, met him and he’s been fantastic. He’s been putting me through my paces at eight o’clock every morning.

"Now, instead of running into brick walls, I run round them."

Fans got a glimpse of the new-look Henderson when, in the absence of the more high-profile Brian O’Driscoll, he scored a hat-trick of tries in his country’s opening Six Nations win in Rome.

"It showed I had a pair of heels on me I suppose," he said.

"I’m normally used to clattering into people in the midfield but I’ve been working very hard on my fitness and speed this year and it paid off, especially for my first try.

"My strike rate is a lot higher this year. I’ve scored about 14 tries in 18 or 20 games, which is not bad for a midfield back."

Ten months of honest toil paid dividends with the telephone call from Donal Lenihan, the former Ireland manager, telling Henderson he had made the 37-strong touring party ahead of Welshman Scott Gibbs.

He knew his form warranted selection but, like most Irish internationals, feared that the postponement of their Six Nations matches might have counted against them.

"I was over the moon, a little bit shocked," he recalled.

"At the start of the season I decided this was a big year for me and, to pull myself up into the reckoning, I would have to work a little bit harder at my game, and that’s what I’ve been doing since the off season.

"The higher the expectations, the bigger the disappointment, so I just decided to concentrate on what was ahead of me and, if selected, it would be a fantastic boost.

"I don’t think you can get higher than this, not unless you’re captaining your second Lions tour.

"If you look at the last Lions tour, Scott (Gibbs) was the player of the tour and to be picked ahead of him is a feat in itself.

"But I was confident in my own form, to be fair. I think everyone was a bit concerned over the postponements. We had played two games and were beginning to build nicely. For the games to be taken away was a little bit disappointing but extremely understandable.

"It was a question of trying to get in as many games as I could. It didn’t help that I picked up a slight injury as well so I wasn’t playing in the run-up to the announcement of the squad.

"But I had my fingers crossed that my form during the season would be enough. I probably had one of my best seasons in the game this year. Hopefully, I can now peak for the tour."

Henderson will be making his first trip to Australia after being omitted from the Ireland tour party in 1999. That disappointment served only to harden the resolve of the 28-year-old former London Irish player.

"I had had a couple of runs as a replacement and I thought I had done enough but the management at the time decided to have a look at other options and other permutations," he recalled.

"I just decided to dig in and work a little bit harder. It would have been very easy to go off the boil and become cynical about things and I just didn’t want to do that. I decided that, if I can’t beat them, I would join them by working harder."

Another big decision has been to quit the English game and join the drift to Ireland, where he will play for the formidable Munster team next season.

"It’s a chance to dip my feet in different water," he said.

"I’ve been playing with Wasps for four and a half years.

"It’s purely a decision to try and look after myself and give myself the best possible shot at the next World Cup and also to try and prove myself on a different stage.

"Instead of playing 22 league games plus the play-offs, plus the European Cup, plus the domestic cup and internationals, you play the inter-provincials, possibly the Celtic League and maybe a few club games.

"The reduction in the amount of games you are playing should result in better time to prepare yourself and train and save the body from too much of a pounding."

The move across the Irish Sea will also put Henderson in direct confrontation with his international team-mate O’Driscoll, the blue-eyed boy of Irish rugby.

O’Driscoll looks a certainty to claim one of the centre spots in Australia while Henderson is hoping to renew his partnership with the Leinster star on the biggest stage of all.

"More or less every time I’ve played with him, I’ve had a hand in him scoring," said Henderson.

"Whether that’s just a case of turning up on the pitch I don’t know, because I don’t think he needs anyone else’s help most of the time.

"He is a great player to play inside and I’m playing outside Ronan O’Gara, who has made the trip as well, which is fantastic news.

"Making the 67 was a goal and making the 37 was a goal. Now to make the Test side would be a fantastic end to a great season for me.

"Obviously there are a lot of quality players around on the tour but I think everyone will get a chance to show what they can do and then it will be up to the coaches and management to decide what is the best side to the beat the Australians in their own back yard."