Ulster & Ireland lock Iain Henderson is understood to have delivered another exceptional recovery from a hand injury and is named in Ulster’s squad this afternoon to face Ospreys on Friday night.
With Devin Toner ruled out for the rest of the tournament and Tadh Beirne still recovering from a knee injury, Joe Schmidt’s 2nd Row options have not been as strong as hoped.
Henderson is starting to make a name for himself as a ‘quick healer’ after he made a much earlier return to action last month in the Champions Cup v Leicester Tigers following thumb surgery. On that occasion, he returned several weeks earlier than expected.
On his return the 26-year-old inspired the Ulster side to victory with a Man of the Match performance, helping set up the Quarter Final showdown v Leinster on March 30th.
In the same game, he aggravated an existing finger injury forcing him to have surgery which has ruled him out since. Joe Schmidt spoke at the time saying he did not expect Henderson to be available until at least the final 2 rounds of the Six Nations.
Ulster Skills Coach Dan Soper briefly updated the media earlier this week on Henderson’s condition;
He is coming along really well. Until the medics give him the all clear he will keep progressing towards getting fully stuck in, but he has been able to do a lot of conditioning obviously and a lot of things with me able to use one hand. He is progressing along nicely.”
John Cooney and Jordi Murphy have also been released by Ireland and will line out on Friday night.
Ospreys have also named their side:
