Iain Henderson loving the challenge having slipped down Ireland's pecking order

LOVING CHALLENGE: Iain Henderson poses for a portrait after an Ireland rugby media conference at the IRFU High Performance Centre at the Sports Ireland Campus in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Iain Henderson and Peter O’Mahony’s accents are worlds apart but you couldn’t listen to the Ulsterman talk about his place in the current Ireland squad this week without the voice of Cork’s finest ringing in your ears.

It’s over two years since O’Mahony found himself dropped from the starting XV for the November internationals against Japan and New Zealand. Only a late injury to Jack Conan opened the door for a return to the team against Argentina in Dublin.

He had 76 caps before that window. An almost permanent fixture in the starting side for the six seasons by then, it would have been no surprise had he been miffed at the demotion. Instead, he described that camp as the “most enjoyable” he’d ever known.

It was a standout declaration at the time and one that made people realise that the improving results we had seen from Ireland on the pitch through 2021 were being backed up by something special off it.

If the ‘environment’ has been become a tad clichéd since then that’s not to say it isn’t still a thing. Henderson’s embrace of the experience despite being overtaken by Joe McCarthy in the second row is the latest batch of evidence.

“It’s potentially like a new stage in my career,” said the Ulster veteran, “but I’ve loved every bit of the Six Nations and seeing Joe come in over the last year or 18 months.

"He has grown brilliantly into the position, what he adds about the place and in training, his physicality in games is massive. He just has a massive future ahead of him.

“Tadhg is playing some of the rugby of his life, he has been brilliant as well. Frustrating for James [Ryan] to have the injury he has but the competition is brilliant and away from the field we are all doing our analysis, prepping and training with each other through the week. It is something I don’t take for granted even though I have been behind those three guys.”

Henderson didn’t make the matchday 23 for the Six Nations opener against France, even with Ireland’s use of a 6/2 bench split. He had 20 minutes against Italy, missed Wales with a dislocated toe and got another 18 minutes away to England last weekend.

This is what he means by a different stage in his career.

“I feel like I have probably slipped down the pecking order, if you like, but I don’t see that as the negative it might have been two or three years ago. I’m still in here competing and training constantly with these guys.

“It’s exciting to be pushing for a position and being involved in a unit of players that are individually world-class at what they do. The opportunity to drive something between those guys together, to get a result at the weekend, I am really enjoying that.” Henderson will know that a man’s place in these queues is never set in stone.

The bicep injury that ended Ryan’s Championship before the loss in Twickenham went a long way to decluttering the waiting room - and to avoiding a repeat of Ulster’s embarrassment in Marseille on opening night.

That defeat of France marked the first time that Ulster had no representation in a men’s senior Irish squad and maybe the really alarming point in this is the fact that it came as no real surprise given their dwindling numbers in recent years.

Henderson had plenty mention that unwanted stat to him after the Stade Velodrome. It goes without saying that he would like more Ulster players to be involved but he knows only too well the standards being set by those colleagues from the other three provinces.

Iain Henderson during training. Pic Credit: Dan Sheridan, Inpho.

“They've been fighting just as hard any Ulster player to get their chance in the shirt, their opportunity off the bench, their opportunity as 24th man. So I wouldn't take it away from any of the lads who have been there and fought for their position.”

Ulster’s difficulties ultimately saw head coach Dan McFarland leave the role recently and Henderson was rich in his praise for a man who took over in 2018 at a bad time for the club and did some good work before ultimately failing to turn the ship around.

Next man up, at least for now, is Richie Murphy with whom Henderson worked a decade ago when the Dubliner was Ireland’s kicking coach. Currently over the Ireland U20s, Murphy will take the reins in Belfast as soon as their Six Nations is done and dusted.

Henderson described Murphy as a people person who is keyed in to the technical side of training and the hope is that he can replicate some of the sterling work he has done in guiding the U20s to two straight Grand Slams and a World Cup final.

“We've seen it with the 20s, with a short of period of time before a tournament he's been able to turn a group of underage players into Grand Slam-winning teams and potentially this time a championship winning team.

"So from that side of things I find it very exciting, I've never worked under Richie as a head coach but the guys who have at Ulster have nothing but good things to say about him and I've seen how much the 20s enjoy training underneath him when we've trained against them.

"That's a side of Richie I'm not sure of but I can't wait to see how that pans out.”