'There were gasps everywhere, pints had been taken at that stage'

Iain Henderson has said it would be “unbelievably massive” for the current crop of Ireland players to lift silverware on home soil for the first time. The Ulster captain is poised to make his maiden start of this year’s Guinness Six Nations when Scotland visit the Aviva Stadium for Saturday’s crucial round-five clash.

Victory over Gregor Townsend’s men will secure the Triple Crown and leave Irish dreams of championship glory resting on England’s ability to upset Grand Slam-chasing France. While Ireland won the title in 2009, 2014, 2015 and 2018, they have not clinched a major trophy in Dublin since the 2004 Triple Crown – five years before any of Andy Farrell’s present-day squad were capped.

Henderson, who has endured a frustrating season with injury and illness, is expected to replace the stricken James Ryan in the Ireland second row on what could be a momentous weekend. “The chance of being able to lift silverware with any team, especially your country, is absolutely enormous,” he said.

Freddie Burns and Ollie Lawrence join the podcast! | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 24

With Max unavailable this week, Freddie Burns steps into the breach to join Ryan and special guest Ollie Lawrence. Freddie gives us his take on Leicester’s strong start to the season and what makes him the ultimate stand-in superstar. Ollie talks us through his relationship with Eddie Jones and how his career could easily have taken a different turn. We get the guys’ best MLR impressions and Freddie asks the question every rugby player poses when watching football.

Freddie Burns and Ollie Lawrence join the podcast! | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 24

With Max unavailable this week, Freddie Burns steps into the breach to join Ryan and special guest Ollie Lawrence. Freddie gives us his take on Leicester’s strong start to the season and what makes him the ultimate stand-in superstar. Ollie talks us through his relationship with Eddie Jones and how his career could easily have taken a different turn. We get the guys’ best MLR impressions and Freddie asks the question every rugby player poses when watching football.

“I’m actually not sure if any guys have lifted silverware internationally at home. That would be unbelievably massive. The excitement that that has brought us leading into this week has been huge, it is a massive driver for us. But we have got to make sure that we set that excitement aside to ensure that we can concentrate on our game.

“The guys who have been involved for a number of years know how difficult it is to come across something at international level, some form of silverware. We have got to focus on the Triple Crown and then obviously whatever happens after that will be an added a bonus. Hopefully, England can do the job on France.”

Ireland are firm favourites to continue their recent dominance against the Scots, having won ten of the past eleven meetings. Should that be achieved, they would face an anxious wait to discover whether Eddie Jones’ men are able to do them a major favour in the evening kick-off in Paris. Lock Henderson is among a number of players in the Ireland ranks to have been in a similar position in 2015.

On that occasion, Ireland defeated Scotland 40-10 at Murrayfield and eventually celebrated wildly having claimed the title on points difference after England – requiring a 26-point winning margin – could only beat France 55–35. “We were delighted when we finished the game but there was a nervous excitement, it wasn’t a celebration,” recalled Henderson.

“Afterwards we were upstairs in Murrayfield watching the (England) game unfold on the screen. Meanwhile, they were trying to get the post-match speeches and all the official stuff was happening but no-one was watching any of it, everyone was just watching the screens, just waiting to see what was happening.

“And I remember towards the end France went to try and play out of their own in-goal area and there were gasps everywhere, a handful of pints had been taken at that stage and the excitement was through the roof. I think at the end of it, (Rory) Kockott was playing for France and he booted the ball out and then the place just erupted.

“We then went downstairs and a load of the fans had been watching outside and then they let them all back into the stadium and we were presented with the trophy on the pitch and it was a great experience all around.”

Henderson has been dogged by fitness issues this term, in addition to last month testing positive for coronavirus on his 30th birthday. He came on as a second-minute replacement during Saturday’s 32-15 win over 14-man England after vice-captain Ryan failed a head injury assessment following the incident which led to the red card for England lock Charlie Ewels.

With Ryan sidelined due to concussion protocols and Ryan Baird out with a back problem, Henderson is likely to pack down alongside Tadhg Beirne against Scotland. “It’s been in ways an exciting but frustrating campaign for me, so a start would be massive,” he said.

“I’d be delighted to get back in, especially in front of a home crowd. It would be unbelievable to have this opportunity against a really good Scottish side to potentially do something special with the lads.”