HURRICANES 31-31 LIONS
What a shame for Iain Henderson.
The Ulster and Ireland lock was having his best game of the Lions tour until he was sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle.
The 25-year-old would have been hoping to play his way into the Lions Test team, following their weekend loss to New Zealand, and he was making a good fist of it.
In 65 minutes, Henderson had made 48 metres off 11 carries, had two line breaks, two turnovers and had made seven lusty tackles. He had also set up George North for his try and came close to bagging one for himself.
His performance was getting lots of praise from fans, pundits and former Lions stars.
Surely the wrong second row off no?! Lawes has been good but Henderson must be in the Test 23 mix…
— Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) June 27, 2017
Iain Henderson has been tremendous today.
Doing everything.
— Paul Williams (@thepaulwilliams) June 27, 2017
Iain Henderson's on fire, your defence is terried. 🎶Na na na na na na na na na. @HendersonIain #HURvBIL #LionsNZ2017
— Conor Power (@conpower) June 27, 2017
With 15 minutes on the clock, Henderson significantly blotted his copybook.
Teaming up with Jonathan Joseph for a clear-out on Jordie Barrett, Henderson lifted the Hurricanes fullback over the horizontal and dumped him back on his shoulder. The TMO definitely had a role in driving home the point to referee Romain Poite but Henderson can have few complaints.
🦁 Iain Henderson yellow carded for this tip tackle on Jordi Barrett. #HURvBIL #LionsNZ2017 pic.twitter.com/4mgJ9Pl87b
— Illtud W. Dafydd (@IlltudDafydd) June 27, 2017
The lock’s actions proved costly as the Lions conceded two converted tries while he stewed in the sin-bin.
He got back on with six minutes left to play but the game finished in a high scoring draw, with none of Warren Gatland’s six late call-ups getting off the bench.
Henderson could yet be cited for the tackle, which would put his place in any Test squad for this weekend in doubt.
