Iain Henderson

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Iain Henderson
Iain Henderson 2017.jpg
Henderson representing Ulster during the Pro14
Full nameWilliam Iain Henderson
Date of birth (1992-02-21) 21 February 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Craigavon, Northern Ireland
Height1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight119 kg (262 lb; 18 st 10 lb)
School Belfast Royal Academy
University Queens University Belfast
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, Flanker
Current team Ulster
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2012– Ulster 159 (75)
Correct as of 14 December 2024 [1]
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2011–2012 Ireland U20 20 (20)
2012– Ireland 84 (30)
2014–2015 Ireland Wolfhounds 2 (0)
2017, 2021 British & Irish Lions 0 (0)
Correct as of 8 December 2024 [2] [3]

William Iain Henderson (born 21 February 1992) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for United Rugby Championship club Ulster and the Ireland national team, and has been selected for two tours with the British & Irish Lions. He has been the captain of Ulster since 2019, and captained Ireland in 2021 and 2023.

Contents

Early life

Born in Craigavon, County Armagh, he was educated at Belfast Royal Academy, [4] playing in the school's 1st XV that made the Ulster Schools' Cup final in 2010. [5] In July 2010, he was selected for the Ulster/Leinster team against Connacht/Munster in the exhibition game that opened the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. [6] He was due to study actuarial studies at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, [7] but switched to Queen's University Belfast after he was offered a place at the Ulster Rugby Academy. [4]

Professional career

He was awarded the £2,000 Jack Kyle Academy Bursary by the Ulster Rugby Official Supporters Club in December 2011, despite missing the first half of the 2011–12 season with a broken leg sustained playing for the Ulster Ravens. [8] He made his debut for the senior Ulster team in April 2012, [4] and signed his first professional contract in October 2012. [9] He represented Ireland at U19 level and at U20 level, [4] including at the 2012 U20 World Championships. [10] He made his senior Ireland debut in November 2012 in the defeat to South Africa in Dublin. [11]

He was named Young Player of the Year at the 2013 Ulster Rugby Awards, [12] and Personality of the Year in the 2021 Awards. [13] He was part of the Ulster team that made the 2013 Pro12 Grand Final and the 2020 Pro14 Grand Final. He made his 100th appearance for Ulster against Leicester Tigers in the European Rugby Champions Cup in January 2019, [14] and was named Ulster's captain, replacing the retiring Rory Best, ahead of the 2019–20 season. [15]

With Ireland, he won the Six Nations Championship in 2014 and 2015, the Grand Slam in 2018, and the Triple Crown in 2022, and played in the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and 2019. He captained Ireland for the first time in February 2021. He was selected for the British and Irish Lions for their 2017 tour to New Zealand and 2021 tour to South Africa. [16]

Henderson's central contract with the IRFU was due to expire after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and there was speculation that he might move abroad. He signed an extension in 2023, keeping him with Ulster and Ireland for a further two seasons. [17] He was called up to Ireland's preliminary 42-man squad ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, [18] and captained the side in the warm-up game against Italy on 5 August 2023. [19]

Honours

Ireland

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The 2019–20 season was Ulster's 26th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and Dan McFarland's second season as head coach. Lock Iain Henderson was named captain in place of retired hooker Rory Best. They competed in the Pro14 and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Both competitions were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, he later stages being played in August, September and October 2020. In the Pro14, Ulster finished second in Conference A, making the playoffs and qualifying for next season's Champions Cup. They beat Edinburgh in the semi-final, but lost to Leinster in the final. They finished second in Pool 3 in the Champions Cup, qualifying for the quarter-finals, where they were beaten by Toulouse.

The 2023–24 season was Ulster Rugby's 30th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union. They competed in the United Rugby Championship the European Rugby Champions Cup, and the EPCR Challenge Cup. It was Dan McFarland's sixth season as head coach. Despite some good results, including a home win against Racing 92 in the Champions Cup and an away win against Leinster in the URC, Ulster slipped back in the league, and poor performances against Bath, Harlequins and Toulouse dumped them out of the Champions Cup. After an away defeat in the URC against Ospreys in February, McFarland left his position, replaced by former Ireland under-20 head coach Richie Murphy. CEO Jonny Petrie also left, replaced on an interim basis by Hugh McCaughey. Murphy oversaw two away losses in South Africa and a quarter-final exit in the Challenge Cup, but form improved in the league, with four straight wins, including a home win against Leinster, and a losing bonus point away to Munster secured a quarter-final place, losing away to a full-strength Leinster side, and qualification for next season's Champions Cup.

References

  1. ↑ Playing stats at ItsRugby.co.uk
  2. ↑ Ireland profile at IrishRugby.ie
  3. ↑ "LIONS V JAPAN UPDATE". Lions Rugby. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Who is Iain Henderson: Ten things you should know about the Ireland lock", Rugby World, 10 June 2021
  5. ↑ "Northern Bank Schools Cup Final: Ballymena 10 BRA 7", The Front Row Union, 17 March 2010
  6. ↑ Richard Mulligan, "Marshall to play leading role in historic match", News Letter, 31 July 2010
  7. ↑ Jonathan Bradley, "Henderson has taken an unlikely path to lead Ulstermen", Belfast Telegraph, 16 November 2019
  8. ↑ "Ian [sic] Henderson awarded URSC Academy bursary", News Letter, 19 December 2011
  9. ↑ David Kelly, "Hot prospect Henderson pens new Ulster deal", Irish Independent, 11 October 2012
  10. ↑ "JWC2012: Jackson pulled from Ireland U20 Squad.", The Front Row Union, 25 May 2012
  11. ↑ "Pressure increases on Declan Kidney as limp second half exposes Ireland's limitations". Irish Independent. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  12. ↑ Richard Mullugan, "Nevin Spence honoured at Ulster Rugby awards", News Letter, 11 May 2013
  13. ↑ "Henderson Leads The Winners At Ulster Rugby Awards", IrishRugby.ie, 7 June 2021
  14. ↑ "Henderson Returns To Win His 100th Ulster Cap Against Tigers", Irish Rugby, 18 January 2019
  15. ↑ "Henderson announced as Ulster captain". Ulster Rugby. 25 July 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  16. ↑ "British and Irish Lions 2021: Sam Simmonds in 37-man squad but Billy Vunipola misses out". BBC Sport. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  17. ↑ "Iain Henderson signs two-year contract extension with IRFU and Ulster", The 42, 23 June 2023
  18. ↑ Josh Graham, "Ireland Rugby World Cup squad 2023 – Farrell names 42 players", Rugby World, 30 May 2023
  19. ↑ "Ireland 33-17 Italy: Grand Slam winners begin World Cup warm-up series with solid home win", BBC Sport, 5 August 2023
  20. ↑ "All 30 of Ireland's Grand Slam contributors rated - but one man comes out on top". Irish Independent. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
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