Henderson injury will not be a quick fix
ULSTER head coach Dan Mcfarland has warned fans not to expect a “quick turnaround” from injured Iain Henderson.
The province’s skipper has made a habit of defying projected recovery times throughout his career but, after the knee injury sustained on Ireland duty last weekend ruled him out of Friday’s big game with Toulouse at Kingspan Stadium, he looks set to be sidelined for considerably longer too.
“It’s a big loss for us,” Mcfarland admitted. “Iain is a talismanic figure for us, he’s our club captain. It’s not going to be a quick turnaround, I can tell you that.”
AS Ulster’s European campaign kicks off with a visit from Toulouse this weekend, head coach Dan Mcfarland has every faith that Alan O’connor and Sam Carter can fill the sizeable void left by injury to the side’s skipper Iain Henderson.
With Henderson set to see a specialist this week after sustaining damage to his knee playing for Ireland against Scotland on Saturday, Mcfarland has warned that there will be no “quick turnaround” from a player famed for making speedier than expected recoveries.
And with t he compacted Champions Cup pool stages to be played out between now and the end of January, the 2017 Lion figures to be laid up for a pivotal period of the province’s season.
Exacerbating the problem is the fact that his fellow second-row Kieran Treadwell will be banned for both Friday’s game and the trip to Gloucester eight days later.
While naturally not the news he was hoping for as Ireland camp finally broke this weekend, Mcfarland has backed those still standing to step up in the crunch contests. Alan O’connor has been a regular pick for the biggest games regardless, and Sam Carter, capped 16-times by Australia, has shown signs in recent weeks of putting his frustrating, injury-plagued first season in Belfast behind him.
“We were always confident that Sam would play well,” said Mcfarland of the man of the match in the win over Edinburgh last time out.
“Sam actually played well from the moment that he was here. In his first game against Glasgow (in a pre-season friendly) here, he made a 30-yard steaming break straight up the middle of the park just like he did against Edinburgh last Monday.
“I said at the time that is not what we recruited him for.
“He is a nuts and bolts player, he understands the set piece very well, whether that is scrum, lineout, maul and maul defence. He has done a really good job around that for us, fitted in with everyone.
“As has Alan O’connor, who has been playing out of his skin; Al has spent the last two years gradually improving and he was already in a really good place.
“He is an extremely skilful player and probably epitomises that fighting, competitive attitude that we look for from the guys in the squad.
“He is a real driver of the people around him in that kind of bite that you need in professional rugby.
“Iain is a loss because it is Iain. But are we disappointed because we have the other two playing? Absolutely not.”
Not just down their skipper, Ulster will also be without vice-captain Billy Burns, who has failed to recover from the groin injury sustained in Ireland’s win over Georgia two weeks ago.
Having not had their whole squad together since early October, Ulster’s returning fit internationals went through only a light workout yesterday before having a first full session today.
The unique scheduling of this Covid-impacted season means that there’ll be no time to gradually settle back in before the serious business of Europe and, in this particular case, a game against one of the best club sides on the continent.
Toulouse, in contrast, had their French stars back last week thanks to a deal between the Top 14 and Les Bleus, with many playing in Saturday’s win over Bayonne.
“It is just the way that the model worked out,” said Mcfarland of the differing circumstances.
“In France, the national team had to do a deal with the clubs so they didn’t lose their players for the whole international window and we’re not in a position to do that. There are swings and roundabouts.
“We benefit in many ways from the system here in how the players are managed. You take the rough with the smooth.
“The bottom line is that I have known that (is how it would be) for a long time and we have been fully prepared for that.
“The players have understood that, they’ve known that, so it is not like there is anything shocking here.”