Iain Henderson craves silverware moment with Ulster as huge European Challenge Cup semi-final awaits at Ravenhill
Iain Henderson made his Ulster debut 14 years ago and while the two-time British Lion tourist has enjoyed success with Ireland, he has never experienced winning silverware with his province.
Ulster are two games away in the European Challenge Cup from ending their 20-year trophy drought and Henderson – who won two Grand Slams and five Six Nations Championships with Ireland – is starting to think about becoming the first Ulster captain to lead a side to glory in two decades.
Firstly, Richie Murphy’s side will have to overcome Exeter on Saturday evening at Ravenhill to book a place in the Bilboa final against either Montpellier or the Dragons.
“You can always let yourself dream,” said Henderson.
“But when it comes down to getting ahead of yourself, you've heard it how many times; you've heard me say it before.
“We spoke about it [being] 20 years, it's been 20 years this season since there's been a trophy. I remember before talking about thinking I'd love to win something with Rory (Best), I'd love to win something with the guys who were here before.
“Now it's flipping its head. I'd love to win something, to have this young group of lads spark something for them and let those guys get a taste of it early in their career.
“Training against the likes of (James) McKillop and Joe Hopes and those lads who are actually shaping up and training, they're becoming more and more difficult to train against. It's so exciting to see and think of what the pack could look like in 10 years’ time for Ulster.
“I think there's definitely very, very bright things on the horizon for those lads.”
Ulster are playing in their first home European semi-final final since 1999 and the first in any competition at Ravenhill since 2013.
“There definitely is a lot of buzz and excitement, we've had a few chats around it throughout,” added Henderson. “Probably the last time we talked about it, we were trying to get another home match during the quarters.
“What we wanted to do and try and build as a club and as a team, coming from where we were at the start of pre-season… was just to try and get better and better as the season's gone on.
“To be fair, the lads – although it's not perfect – have been doing better and better. [It is a ] huge challenge this weekend, it's going to be massive.
“We know the Exeter side and the games that they've been producing over the last number of weeks and months is way different to the Exeter side we saw here last year. I think it's going to be incredibly tough. It's exciting to have a home knockout match again, it's something we're incredibly proud of.”
The last time Ulster were in the semi-final of the Challenge Cup they led Leicester Tigers 17-6 at half-team at Welford Road before losing 33-24.
The likes of Jacob Stockdale, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Nick Timoney and Henderson himself are all survivors from that game five years ago.
“I was chatting to Stu (McCloskey) about that on Monday, we had an unbelievable first half then the second half, they turned it on,” said Henderson.
“Nemani Nadolo was playing, Ellis Genge was at the height of how well he was playing; we probably shot ourselves in the foot then and got ahead of ourselves.
“Mark’s (Sexton, attack coach) always on us, we're getting back to zero and playing off as if it's nil-nil to start the game again.
“That's something, obviously, we've struggled with at times this season, but at other times we've done really, really well.
“The majority of the squad is different, the way we'll be playing, and different coaching staff – it feels like a different organisation than it did then.
“Definitely not for worse, but I think that the changes that have been made have added an enjoyable freshness and I think that's an exciting prospect for us.”