'The writing was on the wall. It was unsaid, but he knew and I knew'
As English rugby players go, Zack Henry has walked the road less travelled through the professional game.
After showing promise playing for the University of Bath, in 2016 Henry took a leap of faith and threw his lot in with France’s Federale 1.
It was a decision that paid off.
After cutting his teeth at Richard Hill’s ambitious Rouen, he was picked up by Nevers in the ProD2, where he did enough in two seasons to catch the eye of then Tigers’ boss, Geordie Murphy. The Irishman would entice him back to England with the shot at top-flight rugby in 2020, but despite his obvious abilities, Henry struggled to find his place.
The 27-year-old Henry admits to feeling like a square peg in a round hole at Welford Road, where despite earning plenty of game time and the trust of his coaches, both parties would decide to part ways a year earlier than his contract stipulated.
Speaking on Le French Rugby Podcast, Henry opened up about his time at Leicester and it started with a brutal physical wake-up call in the form of a super intense English style pre-season – very much a shock to the system of the Brighton boy who was used to a more laid back approach in the ProD2.
“We had Aled Walters, who had just come off the winning the Rugby World Cup. You’ve got Leicester who are trying to climb back up the league, you’ve got Steve Borthwick coming in who wants to impose himself and has done so brilliantly. It was a recipe for disaster for me.
“I came from ProD2 where the training is chill. You do four weeks on, one week off. I thought I was in good shape. Turns out I was not in the slightest!” recalls Henry. “I tore my hamstring actually. I think the training was just too much for me.
“It was Covid as well so we couldn’t do too much rugby. We all had our own lane on the pitch, It was like run, hit a tackle shield, get back up; run, run, run. It was savage. Coming into this pre-season [with Pau] was a lot easier.
“I ended up playing 26 games for Leicester and not getting injured during that period. Here the training is so different, I don’t think my body could handle it. In France you spend a lot of time on the training pitch. In Leicester it was ‘You get out, you train really intense, you get back in’. Out here we can be out on the pitch for two hours, two and half hours. There’s was an infamous day when I was on the pitch for three hours straight.”
Henry’s rise through the ranks came more or less completely outside of the standard English rugby development pathway and as a result it created a player more at home on the fields of France than in his native England.
“I spent my whole career trying to get to the top division, and I did that with Leicester. Although I loved my time there, it wasn’t for me, the way they play.
“I signed for Geordie Murphy – a whole different coaching staff, a whole different set of pre-tenses, then Steve came in and it was so different.
“I was happy to be at the top division but I look back on it and it was a battle every week. It was really tough for me personally and the way I play, what I’d come from.
“Most boys who were at Leicester that year, had come through the Prem academy system and they’d been molded in a certain way. I didn’t. I went to uni, all my friends off the pitch aren’t rugby guys. I went to Fed 1. Fed 1 was three weeks on, one week off. ProD2 was four weeks on, one week off.
“There was no structure whatsoever. At Nevers there was no structure. It was go out and play. Same at Rouen.
“I get to Leicester and I knew from day one at Leicester that they were going to be successful. The training with him and Aled, I told all my mates, there’s no way this club won’t get back to where it is.”
“To try at the age of 25, 26, to learn all of that in one year. In the Premiership and in Leicester, everyone on the pitch knew exactly what they needed to do. The details on rucks, kick chase, box kicks, my kicking, everything was insane.
“I’d come from ProD2, Fed 1 and uni where you’re just playing rugby. ‘Ah look, there’s space, I’ll run over there.
“He [Borthwick] had a lot of confidence in me and I played a lot of rugby, and I was buzzing with how it went but I just knew it wasn’t going to be sustainable for me to get the best of myself. I’m buzzing for the boys and still mates with a lot of those boys. I’m happy to have been part of the project but I think for my personal career it wouldn’t have been best to stay there.”
Things would ultimately come to a head when Henry and Borthwick had a frank conversation about his future at the club.
“The writing was on the wall. It was unsaid, but he knew and I knew that things weren’t clicking and that I’d probably find it difficult here and that they’d be better off with someone else with someone that suits their style a little more.
“When I had my conversation with him it was quite open and we both knew it was in both interests. I think they wanted to free up the spot for Freddie Burns anyway.
“I spoke to my agent and said ‘The Prem has been brilliant this year and I’ve got nothing against the Prem and I would still play in the Prem, but we both know for now, France suited me better.
“I speak French so coming in as flyhalf not speaking French could be quite different. Knowing that I spoke French, they knew I could slot straight in and talk to the French boys and the English boys.
“It was a relatively easy transition. There was no hostility between me and Leicester.”
Now back in France with Pau, Henry is loving his rugby life again.
“To come to Top 14 and play how I wanted to play. I was at the top level but actually really enjoying it and living in the moment in stadiums. I really present, really enjoying it. Those were probably some of the happiest games of my career.
“I felt like the training I had done at Leicester and the intensity, coming into the Top 14 and Pau in training, it was maybe a bit more relaxed.
“It was probably the easiest transition I ever had. It helped that it was a new group. Everyone was trying to work out who was who etc I pretty much slotted straight in. For nine games I went 10, fullback, 10, fullback. It was a really easy transition. The culture are this club is unbelievable. Everyone is so nice.”
“There’s been no scraps! I’ve been shocked, honestly. The way I see rugby after coming here from Leicester. Boys are like helping each other off the ground after a rough tackle in training… I think we’re trying to move towards a bit of anger, a bit of aggression, whatever, a bit of ruthlessness without losing the culture that we’ve got.”
It seems that Zack Henry has found his home away from home.
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
8 Go to comments