CHRIS HENRY WON’T add to his 16 Irish caps in Thomond Park tomorrow night, but pulling on an Irish jersey of any kind seven months after a career threatening layoff is a heartening thought.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Irish head coach Joe Schmidt, who says he’s been thrilled with the player’s progress since his return to action for Ulster.
Henry starts at openside flanker against the Barbarians at Thomond Park, after undergoing surgery to remove a blocked blood vessel on his brain last November.
At the time, the Ulster flanker had established himself in the Joe Schmidt’s starting XV, and was due to line out against South Africa in the Guinness Series, before he suffered a mini-stroke on the morning of the game.
He returned to action in the 36-17 win against Cardiff Blues at the end of March, and played each of the side’s last six games of the season.
And speaking in Limerick this afternoon following the team’s announcement, Schmidt says he’s been keeping a keen eye on the player’s form.
“He was very much in our thoughts right through the Six Nations last season, he played right through that,” he said.
“He was very much starting against South Africa until the morning of the game when he had to be withdrawn.
“Since then I’ve stayed in touch with him a bit, tracking his progress, and his progress has been heartening, and it’s great to have him back.
“He’s just a good quality person to have around as well, so I’m really looking forward to seeing him go again,” he added.
Henry is one of five Ulster players selected in tomorrow night’s starting line-up with a further two – Rob Herring and Paddy Jackson available from the bench.
Schmidt says that he’s been impressed with Jackson’s return to form in the latter half of the season, and says were it not for such a physically demanding run of games, the 23-year-old could have been in his starting side.
“I just think that Paddy’s been playing a lot recently and he’s had a six-day turnaround, so there’s not too many of the Ulster lads that are starting. The ones that are starting are guys that haven’t accumulated, I guess, a whole lot of minutes in the last month or so. There are some that are starting, the likes of Chris Henry and Robbie Diack. Chris is only really back and getting into flow and Robbie’s mainly been coming off the bench for Ulster, so it gives him a chance to get a little more game time.
“Luke Marshall obviously hasn’t played at all in recent times, and Craig Gilroy had about three weeks off before coming back in there for that [Glasgow] semi-final, so those guys really haven’t accumulated as much game time as Paddy, who’s actually been really consistent apart from the one game off away to Glasgow.”
One Ulster player not involved though, is centre Stuart McCloskey. McCloskey, Noel Reid, Jack Conan and Rhys Ruddock missed the cut for selection, but with the 22-year-old Ulsterman set to feature for Emerging Ireland in the Tbilisi Cup this June, Schmidt says he’s pleased to have seen him up close and personal this week.
“I know Stuart McCloskey’s not playing, but it’s the first time I’ve had any involvement with Stu. Just getting him in the group, it’s been a real bonus. We’ve had Allan Clarke and Girvan Dempsey here as well, so there’s be a bit of continuity from us going into the Emerging tour for the number of players that are involved in both groups.
“From that perspective, even prior to kick-off, we feel that’s something that has given us a bit of an opportunity to broaden the base a little bit.”
