As were a number of loose forwards who reached their prime in the late 1980s and early 90s Paul Henderson was unfortunate to be a contemporary of the incomparable Michael Jones. But unlike some, Waikato's Duane Monkley being the most notable example, Henderson at least had the consolation of being an All Black even if his career at international level had a sporadic pattern.

Henderson, always known by the nickname "Ginge," came from good rugby stock in Invercargill. His father played as a prop for Southland in the 1950s and both his brothers, Peter and David, were regular Southland representatives in the 80s and 90s. After showing exceptional promise at Southland Boys High School and making the national secondary schools side Henderson entered first class rugby with Southland in 1983, making his debut against the British Isles.

In 1983-84 he was a New Zealand Colt, his team-mates including future stars in John Kirwan, Grant Fox and Sean Fitzpatrick.

After Southland had been relegated to the NPC second division Henderson moved to Otago in 1987 and for the next five seasons with Brent Pope and Mike Brewer he formed one of the best loose forward trios in the country.

Henderson was thoroughly seasoned in provincial rugby when in 1989 a serious knee injury to Jones gave him an All Black chance on the tour of Wales and Ireland. Unfortunately, Henderson suffered an early injury himself and after a couple of games he was replaced by Kevin Schuler.

Injuries continued to plague Henderson and again when it seemed he had established a regular All Black niche he was forced out in the early stages of the tour to Australia in 1992. In 1990, too, after an All Black trial he had suffered on a traumatic flight home an illness derived from a blood infection.

Even allowing for the presence of Jones and his own mishaps Henderson was a regular All Black squad member through much of the 1990s. He made the tour of France in 1990, of Argentina in 1991 when he made his test debut and in 1993 (as a replacement for Jones who suffered a late injury) on the tour of Scotland and England.

As a late replacement again (this time for Brewer when he was forced to withdraw at the 11th hour) Henderson was in the 1991 World Cup squad and he was also in the squad for the 1995 tournament.

In each of his World Cups he received only one match, though the circumstances of the two games was to be something of a contrast. In 1991 he was given only the quarterfinal match against Canada but despite playing well he was dropped for Auckland's Mark Carter for the semifinal against Australia. The issue of Henderson against Carter was undoubtedly one of the many which caused friction between co-coaches, John Hart and Alex Wyllie.

In 1995 Henderson was again a bit player but he was rewarded for his admirable service with the captaincy for the pool match against Japan, a match won by a record 145-17. In all, Henderson had 25 All Blacks matches with four of his seven tests coming in early 1992 in the three centenary matches against a World XV and the first of thes series soon after against Ireland.

Henderson was an openside flanker in a typical hard nosed Southland tradition. He had a high work rate, was an explosive support player and a fierce tackler.

He had the last of his 89 matches for Southland in 1997, having returned from Otago in 1992, and played for the Highlanders in the inaugural Super 12 in 1996. In his five seasons with Otago he had 71 matches.

Despite his frequent spells on the sideline Henderson retired with around 220 first class matches, his tally boosted by many appearances in trials and other national selections such as colts, South Island or South zone, the divisional XV (which he captained in each of the 1993 and 1995 seasons) and New Zealand B.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.

FULL NAME

Paul William Henderson

BORN

Monday, 21 September 1964 in Bluff

AGE

45

PHYSICAL

1.88m, 90kg

POSITION

Flanker

LAST SCHOOL

Southland Boys' High

RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)

Dunedin

PROVINCES

Otago, Southland

RUGBY NICKNAME

Ginge

ALL BLACK DEBUT

Sunday, 8 October 1989
v British Columbia at Vancouver
aged 25 years, 17 days

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Saturday, 6 July 1991
v Argentina at Buenos Aires
aged 26 years, 288 days

LAST TEST

Sunday, 4 June 1995
v Japan at Bloemfontein
aged 30 years, 256 days

ALL BLACK TESTS

7 (1 as Captain)

ALL BLACK GAMES

18 (0 as Captain)

TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES

25 (1 as Captain)

ALL BLACK TEST POINTS

9pts (2t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK GAME POINTS

12pts (3t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS

21pts (5t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK NUMBER

897

The All Black Games that Henderson played.
(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced

Click on the date to be taken to the Match Card

1989

 8 Oct vs British Columbia at Vancouver 48-3  

 18 Oct vs Pontypool at Pontypool 47-6  

 25 Oct vs Neath at Neath 26-15 (-) 

1990

 17 Oct vs Provence/Cote D'Azur Invitation XV at Toulon 15-19  

 27 Oct vs French Barbarians at Agen 23-13  

 6 Nov vs A French XV at La Rochelle 22-15  

1991

 15 Jun vs Rosario at Rosario 81-9 (+) 

 19 Jun vs Cordoba at Cordoba 38-9  

 25 Jun vs Tucuman at Tucuman 21-9  

 2 Jul vs Cuyo at Mendoza 47-12  

 6 Jul vs Argentina at Buenos Aires 28-14  

 9 Jul vs Mar del Plata at Mar del Plata 48-6  

 20 Oct vs Canada at Lille 29-13  

1992

 18 Apr vs World XV at Christchurch 14-28  

 22 Apr vs World XV at Wellington 54-26 (-) 

 25 Apr vs World XV at Auckland 26-15 (-) 

 30 May vs Ireland at Dunedin 24-21  

 21 Jun vs Western Australia at Perth 80-0  

 28 Jun vs N.S.W. at Sydney 41-9 (-) 

1993

 23 Oct vs London & SE Division at London 39-12 (-) 

 30 Oct vs England South West at Redruth 19-15  

 13 Nov vs Scotland 'A' at Glasgow 20-9  

 23 Nov vs England Emerging Players at Gloucester 30-19  

 30 Nov vs Combined Services at Plymouth 13-3  

1995

 4 Jun vs Japan at Bloemfontein 145-17  (Captain)

Points scored for the All Blacks

t

c

p

dg

pts

vs Rosario, 15 Jun 1991

1

-

-

-

4

vs Mar del Plata, 9 Jul 1991

2

-

-

-

8

vs Ireland, 30 May 1992

1

-

-

-

4

vs Japan, 4 Jun 1995

1

-

-

-

5

Totals

5

0

0

0

21

Test Record by Nation

P

W

D

L

t

c

p

dg

pts

Argentina

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Canada

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Ireland

1

1

-

-

1

-

-

-

4

Japan

1

1

-

-

1

-

-

-

5

World XV

3

2

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

Totals

7

6

0

1

2

0

0

0

9