Chris Henry: The Heineken Cup Brings Out The Best In Us

Ulster backrow forward, Chris Henry, has played in internationals, finals and knock-out games over the course of his career, but Saturday’s match against Leicester Tigers ranks right up there for him in terms of importance. With qualification already secured, the game will decide who finishes top of Pool 5 and who will have home advantage in the quarter-finals.

“These are the games that you want to be involved in,” he says. “Obviously there is a lot at stake and a lot of pressure, but things have gone well so far this week. Yesterday was a long day, especially with the weather, which was horrendous, but we have got through a lot of work.”

With away wins over Montpellier and Treviso this season and a bonus point victory over Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens last year, Ulster know they are capable of a result on Saturday:

“Every game that I go into with Ulster I feel confident because I look around and see the quality of players in the team,” says the former Wallace High School pupil.  “It’s a massive game, it’s a tough place to play.  I have played at Welford Road twice and lost, but the way we approach it is that if we turn up and play the way that we can, there is no reason that we can’t get the points.”

Ulster remain the only unbeaten team in the tournament and are the only team to have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for the past four seasons in a row:

“I think in the European Cup we raise our game and I have no doubt that that is what is going to happen this week,” says Chris. “There is just something about this tournament that brings the best out of us players. Obviously there are a lot of aspects from the game that we need to improve on from last week. Against a team like Leicester our set-piece, our scrum, our line-out and our maul need to be bang on. If we can get parity there then we have a backline that can score some serious tries.”

With a potential quarter-final at a newly redeveloped, 18,100 capacity Ravenhill, the incentive for the players is huge:

“We are just desperate to get a home quarter-final,” Chris says. “It is something that we haven’t achieved yet. Home advantage makes a difference in any game, especially in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup. It is there and I feel that if we get that home game, who knows where we could end up in this tournament.”