When Ireland head coach Andy Farrell announced his side for the opening round of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations against France, the inclusion of Joe McCarthy was one of the major talking points.
While the 22-year-old had played five times for Ireland before this year, including off the bench in the World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand, his first Six Nations start marked the beginning of a new era in the Irish second row.
The big story was that McCarthy had displaced his Leinster-co-captain James Ryan from the first XV, but beneath that there was also the absence of Iain Henderson from the matchday squad.
Even with a 6:2 split on the bench, the Ulster skipper had to be content as a travelling reserve in Marseille.
It's been a stop-start campaign for Henderson, who during the World Cup had played himself back into the starting team for Ireland, ahead of Ryan for the Pool B decider with Scotland in Paris.
After being left out against France, the 82-cap lock returned to the replacements bench for the win against Italy, before suffering a dislocated toe the following week when he played for his province in the URC, which kept him out of the Six Nations win over Italy.
With Ryan now ruled out for the rest of the championship due to a bicep injury, Henderson returned to the Irish bench for Saturday's defeat to England. The toe might not be fully healed, but at least it's strapped up.
"It's more shocking when you would have pushed off it, just because it felt like there was nothing there," he says of playing through the pain.
"When it's strapped and splinted and carbon-plated it's fine."
Farrell is due to name his team this afternoon for Saturday's finale against Scotland, and again, Henderson's spot is up for debate.
With Ciarán Frawley's availability up in the air as he comes through the return to play protocols, it could impact whether or not the Ireland coach chooses to go with a 6:2 split on the bench, or whether he reverts to the 5:3 split he previously preferred.
If it's the latter, Ryan Baird's ability to play second and back row could spell trouble for Henderson, but the Ulster man says it's all just part of the game.
"I'm long enough in the tooth that I can just ride with these things and try not to get too bothered by it.
"Its potentially like a new stage in my career but I've loved every bit of the Six Nations and seeing Joe [McCarthy] come in over the last year or 18 months. He has grown brilliantly into the position, what he adds about the place and in training, his physicality in games is massive. He just has a massive future ahead of him.
"Tadhg [Beirne] is playing some of the rugby of his life, he has been brilliant as well. Frustrating for James [Ryan] to have the injury he has but the competition is brilliant.
"And away from the field we are all doing our analysis, prepping and training with each other through the week. We work very well as a unit and it is something I don’t take for granted even though I have been behind those three guys. They have done a really good job on the pitch and made us gel really well as a unit."
Of the current Ireland squad, only Cian Healy, Conor Murray and Peter O'Mahony have pulled on the green jersey more than Henderson, who burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old in 2012.
And while he admits his role in the team has changed, he's excited about what's to come.
"I feel like I have slipped down the pecking order, if you like, but I don't see that as the negative it might have been two or three years ago.
"I’m still in here competing and training constantly with guys and its exciting to be pushing for a position and being involved in a unit of players that are individually world-class at what they do. The opportunity to drive something between those guys together to get a result at the weekend, I am really enjoying that.
"It makes you want to train better, prep them better. Often when you're not playing, it makes you feel that your Test match is sort of throughout the week. You prep them and then you get a good buzz out of seeing them do something at the weekend that you know you've prepped them, given them good pictures throughout the week, trained hard and given them their best opportunity to be the best version of themselves at the weekend. I do take a lot of pride and enjoyment out of seeing those guys go well at the weekends," he added.
While he's not getting bogged down about selection, he's quick to stress that he's also won't be put out to pasture, citing the example of his current captain Peter O'Mahony who appeared to have fallen out of favour a few seasons ago, only to come roaring back in his 30s.
"I know that happened two or three seasons ago with Pete and look where he is at now.
"In what I said there is no way a reflection of being happy or content with slipping down the pecking order. By no means. I don't think anyone internally would think that’s the case. Equally I’m enjoying competing for that position."
The second row scored one of Ireland's six tries when the sides met at the Rugby World Cup, with Ireland thrashing Gregor Townsend's side 36-14 in Paris.
A win this Saturday would make a 10th consecutive victory in this fixture, with both sides coming into the game off the back of disappointing defeats.
While Scotland lost away to Italy, Ireland saw their Grand Slam bid ended away to England, but Henderson expects his team to bounce back strong at the Aviva Stadium.
"At the start of the campaign it [the Grand Slam] was definitely something that I feel that was fully achievable for us, it was a realistic outcome that guys could set as a real target. That added to the disappointment of the weekend a wee bit.
"We spoke about it post-training yesterday, the opportunity to win a championship doesn't come around that often either, and the guys who are involved in this superb environment need to just remind themselves that we're all lucky to be part of this environment.
"To have this opportunity to win the championship at the weekend is massive," he added.
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