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HE’S SEEN THE clips, but Iain Henderson hasn’t been able to stomach the full 80 minutes of Ireland’s World Cup elimination just yet.

It’s been almost two weeks since the dream died in Cardiff, but the 23-year-old believes it’s not something he should be dwelling on until the squad reassembles in December ahead of the Six Nations.

With Munster tonight and the Champions Cup about to begin, Henderson says that even in his injured state, he needs to be fully committed to the province.

“I think it’s better to switch off from it completely and let it be, and concentrate on Ulster, but when we reassemble around Christmas with the Irish team we’ll break it down and see what went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

For now, Henderson is on the sidelines. The Ulsterman went under the knife on Tuesday, after dislocating his finger in the defeat to Argentina.

On three separate occasions during the match his dislocated finger came out of place leaving him no option but to have it operated on.

It may say something about the defeat that he’s watched his hand his own surgery in the flesh before he’s attempted to watch the match.

“It was quite interesting actually, I was awake for it. It was quite bizarre seeing the surgeon cutting into my hand and stitching me up and screwing me back together.

“As far as I’m aware it’s going to plan and I’m seeing the hand therapist on Friday and then shouldn’t be too long after that.

“I caught it in a jersey maybe 45-50 minutes in and then after that it just wasn’t for staying in. It just kept coming back out.”

Henderson packed down in the second row alongside Devin Toner in the game against Argentina, after captain Paul O’Connell’s tournament ending injury.

Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

But two early tries and a penalty gave Argentina a 17-point head start, and Henderson says that Ireland simply couldn’t match the Pumas’ pace early on.

“They came out all guns blazing and we just didn’t start the way we usually do. Rory Best had spoken about it during the week, when we play well we come out firing immediately, and try earn a penalty in the first few minutes.

“Argentina did to us what we had planned to do to them, which we had done successfully against France.

“I think when everyone came in, it was a very hard reality.”

Despite Ireland falling at the quarter-final hurdle yet again, it was a tournament – and a year – where Henderson firmly established himself in the Irish side.

After impressing off the bench during the Six Nations, he found himself in the starting XV early in the tournament, before Toner got the nod ahead of him in the second row for the meeting with France.

Henderson said he had expected he’d be needed to make an impact, but much later in the game than he eventually did.

“I was happy with my performances at the start of the tournament. Joe had told me early on in the France week that I wouldn’t be starting, so I knew when I came on I had to give him something big.

“He told me he understands that I had been playing well but Devin and Paul had played against France in the last couple of years and we’d beaten them both times so we stuck with what we knew.

James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

“I ended up getting more gametime than I was probably expecting.

“I think I kind of realised the significance of it, because Paul isn’t the kind to be rolling around on the ground. How often do you see him go down like that, it’s not often you see a man like him roll over like that.

“From speaking to other people who’ve done similar (injury) like Cian Healy, it’s supposed to be horrifically painful. And even at that he was still sitting chatting in the changing room after – albeit being helped around a wee bit – and he stayed with us for the rest of the tournament, which was great because he was still such an influential player, like a player/coach.”

While he’s been a wrecking ball around the pitch since returning from his hip surgery last year, one of Henderson’s greatest attributes is arguably his versatility.

Equally comfortable in the second row as he is in the back, he feels he’s yet to find his true position on the rugby pitch.

O’Connell’s retirement and Peter O’Mahony’s injury means there are positions up for grabs in both of his positions when the Six Nations rolls around in the spring.

But having considered himself as more of a flanker than a lock prior to the tournament, his mind is slowly starting to change.

“If you’d asked me this a few months ago I might have given you a more definite answer.

“I feel I’ve made myself more comfortable playing second row. I still enjoy playing back row more, however I can understand from a coach’s perspective why you’d play me in the second row.

“If you could play two second rows and three back rows, or one second row and four back rows, you’d probably pick the four back rows, so I can understand why they’d prefer me there.

“I’d be happy because the more game-time I get, the more I can give, so wherever I’m chosen to play I’m happy.”

Ahead of the rugby action this Halloween, Kelkin, an official supplier to Irish Rugby, teamed up with Rugby International Iain Henderson following research around Halloween and tasty treats. Almost one in three Irish parents (30%) watch a movie with their kids on Halloween night, three quarters of Irish adults think popcorn is the ideal snack to enjoy with a Halloween movie and 63% of parents think popcorn is a healthier option for trick or treats.

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