Iain Henderson
| Birth name | William Iain Henderson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 21 February 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Craigavon, Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.99 m (6 ft 6+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 118 kg (18.6 st; 260 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Belfast Royal Academy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Queen's University Belfast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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William Iain Henderson (born 21 February 1992) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays lock for Ulster, Ireland, and the British and Irish Lions. He has been the captain of Ulster since the 2019, and first captained Ireland in 2021.
Born in Craigavon, County Armagh, he was educated at Belfast Royal Academy,[2] playing in the school's 1st XV that made the Ulster Schools' Cup final in 2010.[3] In July 2010, he was selected for the Ulster/Leinster team against Connacht/Munster in the exhibition game that opened the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.[4] He was due to study actuarian studies at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh,[5] but switched to Queen's University Belfast after he was offered a place at the Ulster Rugby Academy.[2] He was awarded the £2,000 Jack Kyle Academy Bursary by the Ulster Rugby Official Supporters Club in December 2011, despite missing the first half of the 2011–12 season with a broken leg sustained playing for the Ulster Ravens.[6] He made his debut for the senior Ulster team in April 2012,[2] and signed his first professional contract in October 2012.[7] He represented Ireland at U19 level and at U20 level,[2] including at the 2012 U20 World Championships.[8] He made his senior Ireland debut in November 2012 in the defeat to South Africa in Dublin.[9]
He was named Young Player of the Year at the 2013 Ulster Rugby Awards,[10] and Personality of the Year in the 2021 Awards.[11] He was part of the Ulster team that made the 2013 Pro12 Grand Final and the 2020 Pro14 Grand Final. He made his 100th appearance for Ulster against Leicester Tigers in the European Rugby Champions Cup in January 2019,[12] and was named Ulster's captain, replacing the retiring Rory Best, ahead of the 2019–20 season.[13]
With Ireland, he won the Six Nations Championship in 2014 and 2015, the Grand Slam in 2018, and the Triple Crown in 2022, and played in the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and 2019. He captained Ireland for the first time in February 2021. He was selected for the British and Irish Lions for their 2017 tour to New Zealand and 2021 tour to South Africa.[14]
Honours
Ireland
- Six Nations Championship:
- Grand Slam:
- Winner (1): 2018
- Triple Crown:
References
- ^ Playing stats at ItsRugby.co.uk
- ^ a b c d "Who is Iain Henderson: Ten things you should know about the Ireland lock", Rugby World, 10 June 2021
- ^ "Northern Bank Schools Cup Final: Ballymena 10 BRA 7", The Front Row Union, 17 March 2010
- ^ Richard Mulligan, "Marshall to play leading role in historic match", News Letter, 31 July 2010
- ^ Jonathan Bradley, "Henderson has taken an unlikely path to lead Ulstermen", Belfast Telegraph, 16 November 2019
- ^ "Ian (sic) Henderson awarded URSC Academy bursary", News Letter, 19 December 2011
- ^ David Kelly, "Hot prospect Henderson pens new Ulster deal", Irish Independent, 11 October 2012
- ^ "JWC2012: Jackson pulled from Ireland U20 Squad.", The Front Row Union, 25 May 2012
- ^ "Pressure increases on Declan Kidney as limp second half exposes Ireland's limitations". Irish Independent. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ Richard Mullugan, "Nevin Spence honoured at Ulster Rugby awards", News Letter, 11 May 2013
- ^ "Henderson Leads The Winners At Ulster Rugby Awards", IrishRugby.ie, 7 June 2021
- ^ "Henderson Returns To Win His 100th Ulster Cap Against Tigers", Irish Rugby, 18 January 2019
- ^ "Henderson announced as Ulster captain". Ulster Rugby. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
- ^ "British and Irish Lions 2021: Sam Simmonds in 37-man squad but Billy Vunipola misses out". BBC Sport. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "All 30 of Ireland's Grand Slam contributors rated - but one man comes out on top". Irish Independent. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.