THE HEND GAME..

Laidback Iain happy to play it cool as contract talks come to the boil

IAIN HENDERSON is refusing to be rushed into signing a lucrative new Ulster deal.

The Ireland star, whose contract is up next summer, is one of the top names IRFU bosses are still seeking to tie down.

After Peter O’mahony and Tadhg Furlong agreed new three-year deals last week, Henderson and Munster’s CJ Stander are the Union’s two most wanted.

Henderson, 25, spoke at the start of November about the attraction of a move abroad and admitted he was considering all his options in the wake of Simon Zebo’s decision to join Racing 92.

However, the powerful forward is a valued asset for province and country, as proved when Les Kiss appointed him Ulster captain in the absence of the injured Rory Best and also with his impressive November Test series.

Asked yesterday if he had made his mind up where he was going, Henderson replied: “Hopefully nowhere, all being well”.

He puts the lack of a final decision down to a hectic treadmill of games and training camps with Ulster and Ireland in recent weeks.

“It has been difficult because of the run of games that we’ve had and how intense training has been,” he said.

“The two European games were so close together and just off the back of the autumn (Tests), so there’s been a bit of a delay with being back up and down to Dublin.

“Look, we’ll see hopefully over the next number of weeks what happens.

“Currently I don’t have a date in my head, but the sooner I have it done then the sooner it isn’t on my plate as something to deal with.

“But I’m quite laid back. My agent will worry about all that and that takes a massive weight off my shoulders so it doesn’t take away from my rugby performances.

“I’ll let him sort that out. That’s what he’s probably there for, isn’t it?”

Henderson spoke about the great atmosphere at this week’s brief Ireland training camp ahead of the Six Nations on the back of the provinces all going back to back with victories in Europe over the previous two weeks.

“Prior to the September camp we had just lost to Leinster, so you could tell the Ulster boys were a bit p ***** off,” he said.

“But it’s a good feeling to go down there (to Carton House) after a couple of especially good wins.”

Two more victories for the provinces in Europe to finish their respective pools would be a massive pre-championship boost, Henderson believes.

“That will definitely be key to boosting player confidence. It doesn’t take a genius for people to see when players are playing well, it definitely aids their form going forward.

“Similarly, when teams aren’t playing well player performances may tend to drop – and I think that would have been evident in previous years with Ulster.”

Currently, Kiss’s team are on a high going into their clash at Connacht on Saturday on the back of important Champions Cup wins over Harlequins.

“At Kingspan, we were happy to string a couple of performances back to back,” said Henderson. “I felt we went into the second game having performed, and we needed to perform again.

“We had shown over there (at Quins) we were capable of beating them. It was just doing that again.

“We can obviously pull a result out of a hat when people are least expecting it.

“The pressure now is doing it again and again, which is something Ulster have lacked in previous seasons.

“That’s what makes a winning team, a trophy-winning team and we have to concentrate on that now.

“These seven games from the start to the end of Europe, the amount of stress that’s being put on squads – not only in Ireland but all around Europe – is phenomenal.

“So I’d say there will be quite a lot of rotation (over the festive period) – strange teams, different combinations. It should provide for some good rugby.”