Iain Henderson should remember he’s the master of a swift comeback… his Lions dream isn’t over

Jonathan Bradley

Iain Henderson

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Iain Henderson

July 21 2021 04:31 PM

When asked recently how this version of Iain Henderson was different to the one that toured New Zealand four years ago, the Ulster captain mused on a growing maturity.

While hardly a volatile character even in his younger days, the 29-year-old’s second tour with the Lions comes as the skipper and talisman of his province, a recent first-time captain of Ireland and, off-the-field, as a married father of two.

Indeed, to such a degree has he come of age that Warren Gatland chose him to lead out the Lions against the Sharks only two weeks ago.

As he processes the disappointment of missing out on the squad for Saturday’s first Test against the Springboks, he’ll need all that acquired wisdom to channel his energy the right way.

Having produced some of the best rugby of his life over the past nine months, Henderson will have had his eyes firmly squared upon that elusive Test cap, all the more so given his experience four years ago when he played himself into a brilliant run of form only to come up just short of facing the All Blacks.

To have had his name in the reported team that emerged on Tuesday evening, to have friends and family back home no doubt passing on their congratulations and well-wishes at a time when only he knew the reality, won’t have made a tough afternoon any easier either.

With rugby coaches tending towards being control-freaks by nature, Gatland bristled somewhat at so much of his team being in the public domain earlier than planned.

But what the three-time Lions coach said of Alun Wyn Jones was much more revealing in relation to the fate of the sole Ulsterman on the trip. It says much about Henderson’s place in this squad, and its relationship to Jones’s incredible recovery from a dislocated shoulder, that as the week began it was possible to envisage scenarios where the former Queen’s star captained, started, benched or missed out on the ‘23’ altogether with each only marginally more or less likely than the other.

Ultimately it seems, with Gatland having toyed with the idea of benching Jones only to then start him once it was decided that Ali Price would get the nod over Conor Murray, and then opting for a 5:3 split on the bench, the dominoes that had to fall for Henderson to be relegated to the role of spectator all tumbled. The coach has already taken the unlucky few aside to remind them of the changes from one Test to another on his previous tours. In rugby things happen quickly.

Who, for instance, thought Henderson would be in South Africa now when told less than a year ago that his long-standing hip problem would require surgery?

Or when he limped from the final game of the Autumn Nations Cup with knee ligament damage that would keep him out right through the winter?

Indeed, it’s easy to forget given how he’s played since that there were many then debating if the emergence of Ryan Baird meant even his days as an Ireland starter were numbered.

Tuesday’s conversation with Gatland will have been a setback but it need not be a death knell for his tour. And Henderson is one man who has long since perfected the art of the swift comeback.

Iain Henderson should remember he’s the master of a swift comeback… his Lions dream isn’t over

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