Shane Jennings

won’t be the only flanker in action at

Thomond Park

this evening to have decidedly mixed feelings about this game. Part of

Chris Henry

is still wishing he and

Ulster

were contesting Saturday’s Guinness Pro 12 final in Belfast, but he’s also mightily relieved to be playing in an Irish number seven jersey again.

The last time he was scheduled to do so, Henry was forced to withdraw from the win over South Africa last November on the morning of the match in scary circumstances due to a heart issue, which subsequently kept him out of the game until March. Needless to say, he admits he wondered if he would ever play the game again.

“Yeah, the first wee while I was waiting to hear what on earth was going on and of course doctors were saying to you ‘it could be this, it could be that’. So yes there was a stage where I was getting myself ready, I suppose, for the worst-case scenario but fortunately it wasn’t.”

Medical advice

“I’m so lucky I had such incredible medical advice from the beginning and things moved really quickly for me and when I got that call and knew I’d be back playing, I was extremely relieved as you can imagine.

"Look, it's not a full Test match but it's still an Ireland Test and to be back involved with this group of guys, I just feel very lucky and that's how I've approached every game back with Ulster."

“For me as well, it’s different, other lads are really ready for their summer but I feel like it’s November time,” he said at a chilly Thomond Park.

“I’m tired from the game (last Friday against Glasgow) but mentally I still feel very fresh. Hopefully, coming back into pre-season, that will do me the world of good as well.”

He agrees the nature of his enforced absence changed his perspective on the game. “I probably try to enjoy it a bit more. I was probably beating myself up a wee bit at the first couple of games when I came back, but I stood back from it and said ‘hold on, here, if you look at the whole year I’d be reasonably happy I got back’.

“My perspective in life is the thing that’s changed . . . I’m trying to enjoy the small things, because it was a bizarre situation that happened.

“As time goes on I’m sure that that will fade, but at the moment I’m trying to keep a smile on my face as much as possible, to enjoy being back in this environment and being around the calibre of players we have and the coaches. I realised being out of it that I missed it an awful lot . . .”

While still wishing he was preparing for that Pro12 final, he’s also grateful to be one of the seven Ulster players involved in tonight’s match.

“I feel sorry for the guys left at home because I’m still sick to my stomach and I think everyone is. That game, out of all the big games we’ve lost – European Cup finals, League finals, semi-finals – that was the one I really thought we were in control of and should have won, could have won and then had the home final.”

“At one stage I didn’t think I’d be back in a green shirt and to get a chance tomorrow is amazing but obviously deep down I’m devastated I’m not in Belfast preparing for a home final.”

“It’s been good to step away from an Ulster jersey and move on because I would have hated to have signed off for the season losing the semi-final. This is my third time playing against a Baa Baas team and it’s always a tough but really enjoyable game against them.”