Henderson hit-out to give Farrell food for thought

Ulster's Iain Henderson wasn’t going to come off voluntarily as he got a rare 80 minutes under his belt against Cardiff last Friday.

Injuries and a Covid-enforced break have limited the lock’s game time with both club and country this season.

The 30-year-old has 66 Ireland caps but has just seen 22 minutes of Guinness Six Nations action, off the bench against France, this campaign.

Prior to last weekend’s run-out he had played just 102 minutes for Ulster over two games.

Captaining the side on a return from catching Covid-19, which ruled him out of the Italy game, Henderson showed no ill effects during the 48-12 win.

Lock Sam Carter, who came on a replacement at the Kingspan on Friday night told RTÉ Sport that his second row partner was keen to make an impact and show Ireland head coach Andy Farrell that he is ready to go if called upon.

"The way he was speaking to the team throughout the week, obviously as the captain, he was excited to come back and play for us because Ulster have been on the up recently," said the 16-cap Australia international.

"And he wanted to be a part of that forward pack, he wanted to lead the team, get out there and the first 80 minutes he’d played in a while.

"When I got out there he was still going strong. It’s great too see him back and hopefully see him in a green jersey at the weekend."

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Farrell preferred the partnership of Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan in the opening two games with Ryan Baird coming in instead of the injured Ryan for the Italy