Cameron Henderson: 'Steve gave me my first chance... I will be eternally grateful'

On the face of it, Cameron Henderson has his work cut out to make Scotland’s Rugby World Cup squad. One of only two uncapped players – along with centre Stafford McDowall – in the 41-man training group, the Leicester lock is facing some serious competition in the second row.

The rejuvenated Richie Gray, with 73 caps over a storied 13-year international career, and the experienced Grant Gilchrist, with 62, were Gregor Townsend’s go-to partnership in the Six Nations before the latter’s unfortunate red card against France.

Then you have the abrasive Sam Skinner, whose versatility means he can also play on the blindside flank, and the energetic Scott Cummings, who both have 25 caps to their name.

If it wasn’t for Jonny Gray’s untimely knee injury, which means the Exeter Chief is unlikely to play any part in proceedings in France, Henderson may not have made it to this stage.

With only four locks likely to make the final 33-man party, he is undoubtedly the outsider.  Yet it is clear from just a short time in the 23-year-old’s company that he doesn’t lack for ambition or confidence, his enthusiasm for the challenge self-evident.

“I am just loving it, it’s been unreal being involved,” he says. “They have been working us really hard, but that is what you expect from a World Cup camp. It has been awesome.”

Henderson describes his journey to this point as an “up and down road”, and the last two years have certainly sharpened his hunger for the big stage.

He might have been capped in the summer of 2021, but after being named to start a tour warm-up game against England ‘A’ at Welford Road, that fixture and subsequent Tests against Romania and Georgia were cancelled during a Covid outbreak.

The following season he felt he was “going really well” when he ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament and tore the lateral meniscus in his knee against Worcester in October 2021. “That was really frustrating,” he says, with a hint of under-statement.

His strength of character was evident in the speed of his comeback from such a serious injury. Seven months later he returned from the bench in Tigers’ run to the Premiership play-offs, even if had to make do with watching their dramatic final triumph from the stands.

Steve Borthwick, then Leicester’s head coach, played a key part in keeping Henderson motivated, constantly asking about his progress and giving him lineout projects to help with game preparation. The England supremo was quick to spot the 6ft 7in (2.01m), 18st 8lb (118kg) giant’s potential, having plucked him from Glasgow Warriors’ academy on arriving at Welford Road in the summer of 2020.

“Steve gave me my first chance, called me down to Leicester and gave me a shot, which was something I was looking for after the Under-20s Six Nations that year,” says Henderson.

“I will be eternally grateful to him for the two years I had under his stewardship. He has been a real influence on my career. And obviously Wiggy [Richard Wigglesworth, who succeeded Borthwick at Tigers on an interim basis before joining his England staff] gave me a good run of games at the end of last season, so he was really good for me when he came in.”

For a young man in a hurry, those 31 weeks on the sidelines in the 2021-22 season – he buried himself in studying for a finance and management degree at Loughborough University once his rehab was done each day – made him determined to maximise every chance he was subsequently given.

Henderson’s first start for Leicester since his injury was a Heineken Champions Cup match away at Clermont Auvergne in mid-January this year.

His performance in a stunning 44-29 victory at the Stade Marcel-Michelin was so impressive he was immediately summoned into Scotland’s Six Nations training squad the following week.

That call-up gave him all the incentive he needed with a World Cup on the horizon. “It was something I targeted, once I got picked for the Six Nations squad, something I wanted to continue.” he said. “I have been pushing hard at Leicester and trying to work my way into the fold. It has been on my radar. It is the pinnacle of a career so that is what you work for, to play in these tournaments.

“Growing up, you watch every World Cup and they only come round every four years, so you want to be part of it.  To be able to play and compete in one would be pretty special.”

As a 15-year-old, Henderson remembers seeing Scotland play Australia in an infamous 2015 World Cup quarter-final, when the joy of Mark Bennett’s late try to put the Scots ahead was replaced by the acrimony and despair of a controversial last-minute penalty and a one-point defeat.

“I watched it with my dad on a grainy laptop screen,” he recalls. “I remember how gutting it was – going from the ecstasy of that intercept and the try being scored to what happened after. That was a real shame. I remember the devastation of that – it really sticks with me.”

Another opportunity to state his Test credentials came at the end of March, when Leicester faced Edinburgh – who had Gilchrist and Skinner in the second row – on a filthy East Midlands evening in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.

He doesn’t hide the fact it was a game he targeted to propel himself into the Scotland frame. “Yeh, 100%, he says. “I had trained with those guys in the Six Nations so it was no secret I was trying to put my best foot forward and play as well as I possibly could. I knew the coaches would be watching.”

Henderson believes he has taken his “aggressive defence” and physicality in the tackle up a notch over the last year or so. “I think I have turned it into a real strength,” he says. His all-round athleticism – at the set-piece and around the field – are other obvious attributes in his favour.

Townsend is clearly a fan, having mentioned Henderson in dispatches on several occasions. It would be a surprise if he didn’t blood him against either Italy or France over the next fortnight in the first two of Scotland’s four warm-up Tests, but the head coach has offered no guarantees.

“I have been working closely with Gregor and really enjoying working with him,” Henderson says. “He has been really good with me, we have working really hard at certain bits of my game, but there have been no assurances. I will just keep plugging away and try to get that chance.”

You put it to him that even if he makes the final World Cup squad, the reality of Scotland’s group – which includes defending champions South Africa and number one-ranked Ireland – means they are odds-on to suffer a second successive pool-stage exit.

“That is World Cups for you – it is never going to be an easy group,” Henderson replies. “Ultimately you have got to relish these challenges and put your best foot forward to try to knock these teams off, and have the belief that ultimately Scotland are a good enough team to go and beat those sides. We are working towards that and building that belief because this team is good enough.”

Even when you point out that Scotland have not beaten the Springboks, twice, or Ireland – in eight meetings – under Townsend, it does nothing to douse his engaging optimism.

“It is important to not look at these past results but look forward to see how you can pick these teams apart,” Henderson adds. “If you are constantly looking back at what’s gone before, you are never going to get anywhere. It is about embracing the challenge and trying to pick a game plan and style that is ultimately going to cause these teams a lot of issues.”

Maybe Henderson’s confidence stems from his education at Strathallan School, a private boarding school in Perthshire which has become a breeding ground for future Scotland internationals.

Current captain Jamie Ritchie, brothers Zander and Matt Fagerson, scrum-half George Horne plus Henderson’s own peers – full-back Ollie Smith and prop Murphy Walker – are other alumni in the World Cup training squad. “It’s great,” Henderson says. “You played at school with these guys and now you are sitting competing with them at Test level. The ‘Strath’ contingent is building.”

Henderson’s mother moved back early from Hong Kong, where he was born and started playing rugby, to allow him to move to Scotland aged 13 and finish his schooling at Strathallan.

“Ultimately that made a big difference in helping me get to the top level,” he acknowledges. “My parents have made a lot of sacrifices to put me in this position. I am eternally grateful for that. It would be incredibly special to repay them for what they have done for me. I am just trying to embrace the chances I am getting and do everything I can to eventually make that Test debut.”

He may not have much longer to wait.