THE ULSTER masterplan was supposed to go a little something like this.

Johann Muller and Dan Tuohy would command proceedings out of touch, Tom Court and John Afoa would give their side an edge in the scrum, Ruan Pienaar would knock penalties over from anywhere within 60 metres of the posts and Chris Henry would prove an absolute nuisance at number seven, slowing down Leinster ball practically at will and generally putting his head into places where most wouldn’t be happy to put their feet.

Ah, the best laid schemes of mice and men, and all of that, but Henry is phlegmatic as he looks back on an evening that, for Ulster, didn’t go any way according to plan.

“For us, what was basically said after the game is that everybody put their bodies on the line,” he explains. “We couldn’t have given any more and it just shows what a fantastic side Leinster are. But as much as we put our bodies on the line, in some ways it’s a wake-up call for us, to show us what it really takes. Leinster were so clinical, it was incredible.”

Henry is visibly wide-eyed as he describes what it was like to face Leinster on a day when he was unable to be the disruptive presence he usually is at the breakdown. “Any mistake, any turnover, they pounced on,” he explains. “When they were ahead, we were chasing the game and when you’re chasing the game, you start to make more errors. It was daunting out there at times.

“The middle part of the game was really intense and we crept back in with Dan Tuohy’s try. Even up to then, we felt we could fight back but we were up against the best team in Europe and it showed.”

Henry is just as wide-eyed about the experience of playing in a Heineken Cup final. In all Ulster’s detailed preparation for Twickenham, coping with nerves on the day that was in it was not something the management team could have done anything to prepare their charges for.

And Henry, for one, found those butterflies manifesting themselves in a number of different ways during his 66 minutes on the pitch.

Firstly, there was the fans to think of. “You hear about all these people making the effort to come over and support you ...” he says, trailing off to emphasise the responsibility he, for one, felt toward the province’s support.

And then there was the game itself. “Within the first 10 minutes my lungs were killing me because I hadn’t played rugby since the Munster game because of my ankle,” he says.

“So for me, I was nervous whether my lungs were going to be able to cope with such a fast game. But once I got my second wind, the nerves settled down on that front.

“Then, when they scored their two tries, the nerves really kicked in again. But you’ve got to learn to control them and I think, even dealing with that during the game, I learned a lot. I suppose nerves and doubts always creep in no matter who you are and it’s about using that the right way.”

He’s unsure how long it will take for the pain of defeat to dull. “After defeats, it all depends. We’ll use this defeat in the right way, it’s not the end of the world, there are far worse things that can happen to you in life. But on the other hand, this is our life, this is our job and it’s really difficult.

“For some of us there’s more rugby left to come this season, but if not we’ll get back into pre-season and it starts all over again. The experience that we’ve all got after today is amazing – this is the biggest game they’ve ever been involved in. The nerves, as I’ve said, can’t be described going into that kind of situation but we’ll be able to use that experience in the future and be more relaxed.”