Ulster captain Iain Henderson signs new two-year deal

The lock’s current contract ended in August and despite lucrative deals on the table from France and Japan it was always suspected Henderson would stay with his native province, which was more or less confirmed when he was named in Andy Farrell’s training world cup squad ahead of the warm games in the summer.

Henderson has won 72 caps since making his international debut against South Africa in 2012 and at 31-years-old is a key part of Farrell’s leadership team.

Henderson is hoping for more success with his country.

"I am delighted to sign with the IRFU and Ulster for another two seasons and look forward to continuing my journey in Ireland,” he said.

"It is an incredible honour pulling on my provincial and international colours and I believe that there is more to come as we look to build in the months ahead.”

The second row first came to prominence by helping Belfast Royal Academy reach the Schools Cup final in 2010 however they lost the decider 10-7 to Ballymena Academy at Ravenhill.

After leaving school, the lock went to Queen’s University to study maths and played his rugby for the club.

Henderson represented Ulster at U19 and U20 level before making his debut for the senior team in April 2012 when he came off the bench against Connacht at the Sportsground in Galway.

His first start came a few weeks later against Munster and he bagged his first try for the province in the game.

Henderson’s rise was meteoric and seven months after his first Ulster appearance he made his debut for Ireland, coming off the bench against South Africa in Dublin.