Henderson is primed for Harlequins clash
Mcfarland expects Ulster skipper to shrug off international injury worry
Ulsterheadcoachdanmcfarland has allayed fears over Iain Henderson’s readiness for Ulster’s Challenge Cup clash with Harlequins this weekend.
The side’s in-form skipper picked up a knock to his shoulder on Ireland duty in the Six Nations but, while Mcfarland did admit that the lock has had to manage the issue since his return, he fully expects him to lead the side out at the Twickenham Stoop come Sunday evening.
While Henderson’s first Ulster action since his sending off against Ospreys back in October will be a considerable boost, especially should he carry his Ireland performances into a white jersey, the news is not all good.
Marcell Coetzee had already been confirmed as an absentee for this first knock-out action of the season, while Billy Burns continues to struggle with the groin complaint that saw him replaced on Ireland’s bench by Ross Byrne for the Six Nations finale with England.
With Will Addison nearing a return but not quite ready for action, and the likes of Jack Mcgrath, Sam Carter and Luke Marshall all still on the sidelines too, the northern province have plenty of injury concerns.
In Mcfarland’s first Champions Cup campaign with Ulster, he was forced into only four changes through his side’s final four pool games, a remarkable run of fortune that saw his frontline stars fit and available for the season’s biggest matches.
It’s been a marked contrast through this campaign so far, and Sunday will again be far from his ideal panel, but Mcfarland believes this is where the efforts to widen the squad through his tenure must bear fruit.
“There’s a significant difference,” he said regarding his confidence the side can weather the potential absence of key men like Coetzee and Burns.
“That’s been played out this season, I think you can see that when you consider the number of players we’ve been unfortunate enough to have injured.
“You don’t need me to name the guys now that are playing regularly and would be in real competition (for places) with some of the guys out injured. You know who they are and they’re playing really well.
“For most of the season really, we played without seven front-liners, that’s nearly 50 per cent of your team and that makes a considerable impact.
“And yet we’ve performed to a pretty decent level. A lot of the young guys who have stepped into those positions have really stepped up, shown progress and made us a team that, even without some of the big names, people still expect us to win. That’s a good place to be.
“It doesn’t make winning the big games any easier, but are we a lot more confident now than we would have been (two years ago)? Undoubtedly, absolutely undoubtedly.”
With Harlequins sitting fourth in the Premiership, and having gone toe-to-toe with heavyweights Bristol and Exeter in recent weeks, there is a possibility they may prioritise domestic matters but Mcfarland is planning as if he’ll be seeing all their stars.
“Quins are a really good team,” he said. “They are playing better than when we played them last year and I thought they were a good team then.
“They’ve got good players across the board but you don’t have to look much further than their half-backs, the experience of Danny Care, the undoubted talent of Marcus Smith.
“(Full-back) Mike Brown is now 35 but, as far as I can see, having watched the games that they’ve played this season, he’s in the form of his life. Up front, the likes of Alex Dombrandt and James Chisholm are big ball carriers and then the experience they’ve got in the front-row with Scott Baldwin, Joe Marler and Wilco Louw.
“Second-row is probably unheralded but they get through a lot of work, they’ve got good size, good set-piece, they win a lot of line-out ball.
“Will Evans wins double the amount of jackal turnovers that any other player in the Premiership does which is some feat to be standing that far ahead of everyone else. In the backs, they may not be star names but a player like Andre Esterhuizen at 12 is a real force. There’s real threats across their team and I’d expect to be seeing them all.”
‘Alotof the young guys have really stepped up’