IN THE COMPANY OF LIONS
Iain Henderson hopes his exposure to a culture of excellence on the summer tour to New Zealand can rub off with Ulster
HE blanches at the notion. The thought of re-entering the Ulster dressing room and trying to impose his highfalutin new life experiences on the group is not one that Iain Henderson cares to entertain. The 25-year-old does not fit the image of a leader as cast in the shapes of Willie John McBride or Paul O’Connell. Henderson’s way is quieter, more languid. His adventures in June and July have not changed that.
But when he joined team-mates last week for the first time after his summer break, Henderson’s circumstances had altered. He spent two months in an environment defined by sustained excellence, one that threatened to consume him at the start.
By the end of June, he was playing so well that his claims on a place in the Test 23 were strong, if ultimately ignored by Warren Gatland.
And one man who must have given close attention to Henderson’s doings was Jono Gibbes. His job at Ravenhill this season as head coach is to reproduce the winning cultures he helped foster at Leinster and Clermont.
He must do that at a province quick to promise much and unable to deliver anything of substance for the past decade.
His job should be made easier with access to class of the kind Henderson possesses. It’s just that the second row isn’t of a mind to stand in the middle of the dressing room evangelising. If his Lions exposure has improved him, and it surely has, Ulster will benefit in more practical ways.
‘I don’t think I’ll go in trying to be a world-beater,’ he says. ‘I’m looking forward to getting under the new coaches and fit back in, first and foremost, ensure I’m not being disruptive by trying to do too much or take on everything myself.
‘I’ll sit down and wait and enjoy playing with Ulster, because I do love playing with Ulster.’
He enjoyed being a Lion, too, sustained by the form he showed in the warm-up matches against the Chiefs and the Hurricanes, when he was brilliant.
However, his push for Test contention was futile, and playing an underwhelming part in the tourists’ miserable opening win against a Provincial Barbarians’ selection did him no good.
He grimaces recalling the effect jet-lag played in that performance, with the Lions obliged to play within days of arriving in the country.
The immersion in a culture sustained by the best players in the northern hemisphere did him enormous good generally, though.
‘I don’t think I’d ever try and say I’m comfortable in company, because I’d always be trying to do a wee bit more,’ he says.
‘But I think what you do realise when you get to the level of the Lions, you don’t get there if you’re doing things half-assed. All the boys who are there are there for a reason: not only do they train well and play well with their clubs, and their countries, they are the top of the ones who train well and play well with their countries.
‘When you get into that environment, everyone is doing their extra bit of recovery; everyone is doing their extra bit of training and their bits and pieces to make sure they’re right for the next game or for training.
‘Everyone was trying to be on top of their game.’
Maintaining peak performance must be the next major target in Henderson’s career. When he is good, he’s very, very good. And when he’s not? He started Ireland’s first Six Nations game last season, the stunning defeat away to Scotland.
He was poor, and it wasn’t until the final match, a stirring victory against England in Dublin, that he started again. Henderson scored a try in the game and played so well that it effectively put him on the plane to New Zealand.
Stitching together performances of that nature consistently would turn him into one of the best locks in the world.
It would also help Gibbes in what is one of the most daunting challenges in the Pro14 this season: solving the Ulster riddle.
They have invested significantly in an entirely new coaching team under Les Kiss as director of rugby. Gibbes is head coach, Dwayne Peel is in charge of the backs and Aaron Dundon is scrum coach.
‘I’m looking forward to getting a bit of time under them. From the guys in Leinster I’ve heard massive things about Jono Gibbes. All the boys who have more or less completed pre-season now speak very highly of him, Dwayne (Peel) and Aaron (Dundon).’
Ulster have faltered time and again when the challenges domestically and in Europe call for nerve but also consistency. Sloppy defeats and surprising dips in performance have beggared them for years now.
‘I don’t think anyone in Ulster would deny that we’ve been very disappointed with the last number of seasons, especially last season not making the play-offs (they missed out on the Pro12 semi-finals by a point). The European group didn’t go the way we wanted, either (they finished bottom of their pool with two wins and four defeats in six matches).
‘Since I’ve been there, we’ve stumbled at the final blocks,’ he says. ‘No one at Ulster intends going out not to perform in these matches, but it’s something we have to attempt to address. The coaches, Les and Jono, I’m sure they’ve looked hard and long at what we are going to do differently this season.
‘Most important for us is not looking at that end of the season but making sure from next week, we will be very, very match-to-match focussed and ensuring we get the most out of each game to put us in the best position to take off as much pressure as possible.
‘So often in the last few years, with three games to go we’ve had to win two of them and get one losing bonus point. We’ve played three really good games, all of a sudden we’ve got our semi-final place but you’ve spent your three big performances already.
‘Then you drop off in a semi-final. It’s something we need to address, not saving ourselves for the end of the season and making sure we can get those two or three big wins in September, October, and rested and well prepared for the end of the season.’
You don’t get to the level of the Lions by doing things half-assed