It has been an eventful year for Ulster back row Chris Henry – this time last year he suffered a mini stroke whilst at Ireland camp and just five months later he was back playing for his Province and in contention for World Cup selection. Fast forward seven months and Chris has just returned home after playing five times for his country in the Rugby World Cup - and with more experience under his belt is looking to make an impact in a white jersey.
“The World Cup was an amazing experience, and I would like to think I have come back a better player. I have some amazing memories but I think ultimately for those guys who were involved and suffered the disappointment, the best thing for us is to get stuck back in with Ulster as quickly as possible.
“It was obviously my first World Cup but any time there is a big campaign, Six Nations or other, it takes an adjustment to come back into your provincial side. You are learning new calls again - I have been engrossed in Ireland for the guts of four months and obviously Ulster have their own systems, their own calling structures and that is something I need to pick up again and quickly.”
With Henry among the Ulster stalwarts away with Ireland, Ulster managed to hold their own at home, but suffered two defeats on the road leaving them fifth in the league with 16 points and despite a hearty performance against Munster last weekend, only an additional two points could be claimed, with Henry amongst the subs in Limerick.
“I think the Ulster team did really well when we were away,” says Henry. “The home performances were obviously a lot better than the away performances and that is something we have addressed. It is clearly just a mind-set, the starting team who took to the field last weekend against Munster really turned up. It wasn’t a lack of physicality, which we have been accused of in the past in away games. I think we had the heart and the passion that we need whenever we travel away from home but we just weren’t clever enough.”
Les Kiss joined Ulster this week and that is a real positive for Henry…
“He had a brief stint last season and now he is fully on board. He is very hands on and he has a clear message and a clear idea of how he wants things to run. I think any of us who have been lucky enough to be coached by him before know what he can bring to this team. Having a man at the top leading the charge with a clear direction can only be beneficial.
“We have an unbelievable coaching set up here already, so I don’t think there will be any massive changes in how we play the game. Les will offer added experience – he has won big tournaments with big teams, so he knows what it takes to be successful. Les has a more defensive background and I think he will complement Neil Doak well. He’s a great guy, you can see his excitement and hopefully the players will respond to that. Les is the sort of coach that you want to play for and as players we have got to get right behind him.”
This Sunday Ulster are back on the road - they face a Dragons side sitting eighth in the Guinness PRO12 - but with a few fresh ideas Henry is confident they can bring four points home:
“Dragons have had a similar run of form to us; their defence is particularly strong, they make teams work really hard, put them under pressure and frustrate players. They tackle and bounce out of rucks and are a solid line constantly. We will have to come up with a few ideas to get through their line of defence but away from home and in a place like Rodney Parade you are talking about set piece, maul, defence and not giving away penalties. I think if we can get that right and our game picks up, we can give any team a rattle away from home.
“Faletau (Taulupe) is obviously one of their danger-men, so we need to start well, Cudd (Nick) as well, in the breakdown, is dangerous. I think most of these games come down to the breakdown and I think that was something that was better for us last weekend. I think our ball carrying and ruck speed was so quick that Marshy (Paul) was struggling at times to get there, so that’s a strength for us.
Summing up, the 31-year-old said: “We are sitting fifth in the league, last weekend we let three points go. Sitting here this week with four tries and a win against Munster would have made us more confident going away this weekend. We have made it slightly harder for ourselves but there is no reason why we can’t go away and put in a great game against Dragons and get a crucial four points.”