Heineken Champions Cup: Ulster won't be deflected by criticism - Iain Henderson

Ulster were beaten in chastening fashion by Sale Sharks in the Champions Cup opener last Sunday

Iain Henderson insists Ulster won't be affected by the social media criticism which accrued from the 39-0 Heineken Champions Cup thumping by Sale Sharks.

Last weekend's loss left Ulster almost certainly needing to beat European champions La Rochelle on Saturday to stay alive in the competition.

Henderson says the game - which has been moved to Dublin - is the "perfect opportunity" for Ulster to hit back.

"Those negative voices often get heard a lot louder than others," he added.

"All it takes is for someone to shout as loudly as they can from the top of their cliff which happens to be from their phone in their bedroom."

The Ireland and British and Irish Lions lock isn't on social media but says there has been chatter in the squad this week about some of the criticism being directed at the players and the management.

'Players get told all the time they should leave'

The chastening defeat in Sale - which Henderson pointed out came after the squad were forced to travel to England early on the day of the game because of Saturday's flight cancellation - followed Ulster's 38-29 loss against 14-man Leinster a week earlier when Dan McFarland's side squandered a 22-3 lead.

Prior to the two defeats, Ulster's only blemish this season had been a home loss against Leinster in late September with McFarland's side having won their other six games in the United Rugby Championship.

"Every team goes through tough times," added Henderson, 30, who didn't feature against Sale as he recovered from a head knock in the Leinster's game but is back for Saturday's encounter which has had to be switched from Kingspan Stadium to Dublin because of the Belfast venue's frost-hit playing surface.

"Players get told all they time that they should leave, that they shouldn't be part of the team. Ninety per cent of the squad are used to comments like that and Dan, I'm sure being the man he is and his understanding of how people's psychology works, will understand that too.

"If we were to get bogged down with that, I don't think we'd be where we are now.

"We know the work that we've put it to get us to where we were 120 minutes ago. That just doesn't disappear or evaporate.

"We still have a foundation of the way we want to play laid and that's something we can fall back on when times are hard and I'm sure we can front up with another performance. That's the plan for this weekend."

Iain Henderson's wins over French teams in the Champions Cup includes the November 2019 victory over Clermont Auvergne at Kingspan Stadium

'We've played well against big French teams'

Ulster's most recent encounter against French opposition was an agonising home defeat by Toulouse last April which saw the Irish province miss out on a quarter-finals spot on aggregate after they had beaten the five-time European champions in the last-16 first leg in France.

However, Henderson has played in several big wins over star-studded French sides and speaking before the venue switch was announced, said he believed another could be achieved this weekend.

"We've played well against big French teams coming here.

"Coming back to be available for selection for this weekend is exciting. I'm really excited about this weekend and I can say with a fair bit of confidence that the guys who played last weekend are excited about playing too."

Both McFarland and centre Stuart McCloskey were careful not to use Ulster's travel difficulties last weekend as an excuse for the display but Henderson has no doubt they were a factor.

"Some of the lads had four hours sleep the night before a game. Travelled the entire morning of the game and were at the airport at 5.30am to travel to the game. It's not the ideal way to prepare for a game."