FRENCH TOAST.. EVERY TIME IAIN PLAYS
Ulster lock gives Les Bleus the blues and Henderson says it’s time to make a point
IAIN HENDERSON loves mathematics but can’t get his head around the sums when it comes to France. Going back to facing Les Bleus at under-20 level, the big Ulsterman (left) has a record of one draw and five wins from six meetings – including last year’s dramatic victory in Paris. But the Queen’s maths scholar finds that all difficult to equate. “That’s amazing,” he admitted. “Because in my head, France are always a tough opposition and can catch you completely off guard and win. I can’t remember a game against France that hasn’t been incredibly physical or when they haven’t fought right to the end.
“It can be similar to preparing for sides like Argentina, like Italy – it’s all a bit up in the air when you’re playing them.”
But Henderson, making his first start of this Six Nations after overcoming thumb and finger injuries, strongly hints that Ireland will produce their best performance of a scratchy championship to date.
This is Joe Schmidt’s last competitive game in charge at the Lansdowne Road venue and, after losing the only other home game of the campaign – the opener against England last month – there’s a focus on putting things right.
“A lot of the boys who played in the England game will feel they’ve something to produce at home that they haven’t in this campaign already,” the second row explained.
“We’ll not play another competitive game at home until this time next year. That’s something massive, performing in front of the home supporters.
“The lads who played against England will have that in the back of their minds – and the lads coming in will realise that they’ve got to add something to improve the performance and essentially make a point.
“Those things combined will, I think, increase the performance and hopefully make for better viewing.”
I turned 27 a few weeks ago.. Time does move on incredibly fast..
From a personal point of view, Henderson admits he’s hungry for game time and to make a big impact against the in-form French, who are on a high after beating Scotland.
Missing the start of the championship – he came off the bench in Rome a fortnight ago – left him feeling he was playing catch-up, particularly because second row is so competitive.
“I wasn’t thinking the World Cup,” he confessed. “I was thinking, ‘Flippin’ every time you’re not playing, it’s an opportunity for someone else to pull a rug from under your feet’.
“All of a sudden you’ll be the one not starting, not involved in camps or in match-day squads. So when you come back in you want to give everything.
“I wanted to show what I can do and have done – and continue to build on that.
“Time in camp is precious. You miss a handful of them, you could almost wipe out your whole international season. “Potentially players have only a seven-year window for an international career, and you’re taking a sixth of that out. “That’s a lot of games over a dodgy thumb or something and it does creep into your head – ‘I wanna get back in, I want another crack at this’. “I turned 27 a few weeks ago and feel like I’m still a 21-22 year old. But that’s not the way it is. Time does move on incredibly fast and I’ve missed Six Nations and autumn internationals, and you’re like, ‘Right, I’ve got to bet back’. “And before you know it you’ve missed the whole season.”