SHIELD CHALLENGE
Turbos ready to take on Taranaki
Brice Henderson was considering throwing in the towel on his rugby career earlier this year, now he is the Manawatu¯ Turbos’ first-choice No 8.
The 27-year-old, nicknamed Banger, will play his 12th game for Manawatu¯ tonight as they try to end a 41-year Ranfurly Shield draught against Taranaki in New Plymouth.
He turned on his best display of the season in the side’s loss to Counties Manukau last Thursday night, including a couple of telling runs, which has solidified his spot at the back of the scrum.
But the season could have been very different for Henderson, who was one of the last players in the squad to be contracted.
He admitted he was prepared to turn his back on rugby when he headed into the season.
‘‘If I didn’t pick up a contract, I was going to throw it all in. We have just had a little boy, he is 6 weeks old and we have a 3-year-old girl so I was just going to give it all in and become the family man.’’
After finally breaking through to the Turbos in 2015, a knee injury spoiled his 2016 season.
The time away from rugby opened his eyes to just how big the commitment was as he juggles rugby, his engineering job and fatherhood.
Henderson described his relationship with rugby in 2016 as ‘‘pretty depressing’’.
He said he only watched a couple of Turbos matches and in most of the College Old Boys club matches he turned up to, he rarely stayed until the end.
‘‘I would walk out at halftime because it was just so frustrating to watch. It made me think negatively watching,’’ he said.
‘‘It took a lot longer for me to come back than what was intended because I kept getting swelling in my knee. It got to the point where I stopped doing my rehab and just took a break for two months and did nothing but focus on work. That seemed to play dividends to me.’’
After spending much of career focussed on No 8 and blindside flanker, the coaching staff asked him to give openside flanker a crack with his former Palmerston North Boys’ High School teammate Antonio Kiri Kiri the only specialist in the side.
His form in preseason was hard to ignore and it was eventually rewarded with a contract.
While he still covers openside flanker, it is at the back of the scrum where he has stamped his mark.
‘‘It has been good just getting some time at No 8 because you only have one role to learn. When I was on the bench, I was covering all three positions so you have three different spots you have to learn and remember all the placing, it was just a bit of a nightmare in the old head.’’
He has another chance to prove his value at the back of the scrum on Wednesday for Manawatu¯ ’s Ranfurly Shield challenge against Taranaki.
Henderson has been named at No 8 in an unchanged loose forward trio.
Hooker Hunter Prescott replaces Tom Crozier at hooker with Tim Cadwallader returning from his ankle injury on the bench.
Fraser Armstrong has recovered from his concussion to start again at prop alongside Michael Alaalatoa.
There are two new names in the backline with All Blacks midfielder Ngani Laumape released to play and Kurt Baker returning from a hamstring injury.
Laumape starts at second fiveeighth pushing Jason Emery to centre and Lewis Marshall dropping out of the squad.
Baker has been named at fullback which bumps Te Rangitira Waitokia to the bench and Hamish Northcott out of the 23.
Meanwhile, Taranaki have made just one change to their starting side with All Blacks wing Waisake Naholo cleared to play.
Naholo comes onto the right wing pushing Declan O’donnell to the bench. Kane Thompson, who played for the Turbos last year, starts at lock.