Rory Keane reports from Port Elizabeth
WHETHER HE’S deployed at lock or flanker this weekend, Iain Henderson will be crucial to Ireland’s cause as they chase a historic 2-1 series victory on Springbok soil.
Along with Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Devin Toner, Jamie Heaslip, Conor Murray, Paddy Jackson, Andrew Trimble and Jared Payne, the 24-year-old started the first two Tests at Newlands and Ellis Park. All nine, if fit and firing, are highly-likely to be called into action for one more seismic Test this season.
Henderson, who missed a large chunk of this season due to hamstring tear sustained in December, produced a superb display alongside Toner in the second row in the 26-20 victory in Cape Town before moving to blindside to cover the suspended CJ Stander for the Johannesburg rematch.
Both positions require different skillsets, but the Ulster man is not overly-concerned about the number on his back, he just wants to make an impact in this Port Elizabeth decider.
“Four and five aren’t hugely different,” said Henderson. “Metres covered by a back row are generally higher but then that can come down to the amount… if you have 10 scrums in a game, that extra 10, 15 or 20 metres that you get off that, there’s acceleration, because they don’t only look at metres, they look at high speed metres and intensity of running and collisions as well.
“They’re slightly different but I try and get them to match up as much as possible so that I’m not differing my game too much and I can look at when I’m playing in the second row bringing what I bring in the back row. I’d like to think when I’m playing in the second row that we have four back rows on the pitch. If I was a coach I can understand why I’d want to have an extra back row on the pitch.”
Line speed has been a major talking point among this squad this week. It is imperative that they get off the line quick and shut down the Springboks’ array of power runners; the likes of Damian de Allende, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Willie le Roux simply cannot be afforded the same time and space that they got in the final 20 minutes of Ellis Park last time out.
If Ireland deliver the same passive defensive display during that ill-fated quarter, it could be a long day on Saturday.
“Yeah, I think the line speed and staying square will be the main things, just making sure we aren’t over-committing to people on the inside,” Henderson agreed.
“It’s something we’ll have a decent enough focus on, to understand that we have to defend the whole pitch and not just certain areas of the hard runners. They do have hard runners, they do have big runners, who are hard people to tackle, but as we saw in the first T we can handle that.”
“I think within the backline and even the pack, with the carriers that we have, we can get decent go-forward ball then I think our breakdown work – we slackened off in the second-half a bit last week, but we’re looking to up the ante and we’re looking to be nailed on in all of those individual specific scenarios.
“If we have the players who have the flair to break the line and get good, go-forward ball.”
Joe Schmidt’s squad may have been thought a harsh lesson last weekend, this forthcoming Test is the 17th of a long season, a number of high-profile operators are unavailable but, despite all those setbacks, this squad has a shot at making history.
The odds are stacked against them, but, then again, they weren’t given much of a chance before that stunning display in Cape Town.
“One hundred per cent, and there was last week as well, and we realise we’re massively fortunate to get a second bite at this apple,” added Henderson.
“However, going back to what I said before we’ll look at getting the game right first before we look to considering the win before we’ve even played.”
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