THE THREE ULSTER representatives — Rory Best, Iain Henderson and Jared Payne — are set to start for the Lions as they face the Highlanders on Tuesday.
In this, his second Lions tour, Ireland captain Best is enjoying his time in New Zealand, and says it’s made all the more special that he’s lining out alongside Henderson and Payne.
“They are two great fellas to play with and I’ve been very fortunate to have played alongside both of them for many years now, and also to see the way Jared has developed a bit more of a personality since he’s come to Ulster,” Best smiles, tongue-in-cheek.
“To see the way Hendy had developed, not only as a rugby player, but also in his line-outs and the way he has matured around the place is great.
“It’s always fantastic to represent the British and Irish Lions, but to do it with two club mates makes it a little bit more special as well.”
Best continued to speak highly of Henderson, and how he’s developed since making his senior debut for the Northern province in April 2012.
“We always knew he was a fantastic talent, but I remember the first day he turned up to pre-season with Ulster, and he was this floppy-haired kid with not a lot of meat on him.
“While he’s had his fair share of injuries over the last couple of years I think he’s really learned to play through niggles, and bumps and bruises, and just the way he has matured his game.
“A lot of people don’t get to see how hard he works off the pitch in terms of the line-outs, but also in the gym and make himself bigger and stronger, and just trying to improve.
“When you get somebody like that you comes in so young and you play alongside him, and you see that improvement, as somebody who plays alongside him, it does make you proud.”
In terms of his own form in the red jersey to date, Best is aware of some mistakes and issues, but feels that he has played reasonably well.
He knows that he has to work hard going forward though.
“It’s been a little frustrating because I feel I’ve been playing reasonably well around the pitch but there’s been a couple of set-piece issues and obviously there’s been that one big one when we had the opportunity to win that game in Auckland.
“Having said that I’ve been around the block enough to know that you can’t dwell on these things, especially on a short tour like this. You’ve got to keep working hard on those areas.
“Like somebody said, the last game put a bit more pressure because the boys did so well at set-piece. But that’s what you want. You don’t want to have it easy. You don’t want somebody to have you a spot.
“You want to work hard for it, and that’s personally what I’m trying to do at the minute.”
- Additional reporting by Murray Kinsella
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