O'Connell's presence 'invaluable' to Ireland set-up says Henderson
CAPTAINING IRELAND: Iain Henderson will captain Ireland for their RWC warm-up game against Italy. Pic: ©INPHO/Evan Treacy
A proud day today for Iain Henderson. His first and, to date, only experience of captaining Ireland came against France during covid and behind-closed-doors and fair to say that it could have gone better.
A two-point defeat at the Aviva Stadium in a game where he spent 15 minutes on the sidelines getting a head injury sorted, confirmed a third straight Six Nations defeat for Andy Farrell’s side. This was still the darkness before the dawn.
This time family and friends will be there to take it in – and there were 42,000 tickets sold for the game at lunchtime yesterday - and a win against Italy isn’t so much expected as taken for granted.
The 31-year old follows in a long line of Ulsterman to have held the post. He follows leaders in the vein of Jack Kyle, Willie John McBride, Paddy Johns and Rory Best. Another of those illustrious predecessors is his current forwards coach.
Paul O’Connell was his captain in 2015 when Henderson experienced his first World Cup as a 23-year who at the time wasn’t able to see or grasp the Munster man’s love of the game, but his appreciation for a man he rates as an “invaluable” presence in the setup now is total.
“Paul is incredible. On a daily basis he has micro-chats with you, fixing things up and making sure people are staying on top of detail. His desire and love for the game is probably unrivalled to anyone I've been coached by before.
“As a player I was a good bit younger than him and maybe wasn't quite as appreciative of how much time and effort he put in then and what he's been able to do is instil what he loves doing.
“In terms of his analysis, he's been able to bring it into his coaching and make it more infectious for the rest of the players.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
