Former Scotland centre Andrew Henderson has announced his retirement from club rugby at the age of 36. Henderson made his way in the game with his local Lenzie and then, after a stint with West of Scotland, was picked up by Glasgow Warriors around the turn of the century.
In his early time with the pro club he turned out for Glasgow Hawks and then broke into the Warriors team and became a mainstay for a number of years.
He made his Scotland debut in September 2001 at Murrayfield against Ireland and managed to score a try off the bench in the 32-10 triumph. Henderson went on to play 53 times for his country and featured in two World Cups in 2003 and 2007.
After making nearly 150 appearances for the Warriors he had spells at Montauban in France and Newcastle Falcons in England and for the last five years he has turned out for GHA. After finishing the 2015/16 campaign with the Braidwood club safely in BT National League One he decided it was time to take a break from the game.
“I look back fondly on my career in the pro game, with Scotland and the clubs I represented," he said. "When I started playing at Lenzie all those years ago if anyone had handed me the time in the game and the experiences I have had then I would have been happy.
“You always remember your debut and for myself that Ireland game was very special because I had put in a lot of hard work to get to that point. I played with some great guys in the Scotland team and some of the wins we had will always remain in my mind. The last few years at GHA has been enjoyable, but now is the time to take a step back.”
Meanwhile, new Warriors recruit Corey Flynn believes his experience can help the other hookers on the club's books improve. The 35-year-old former New Zealand international will be working with Scotland caps Fraser Brown and Pat MacArthur as well as up-and-coming youngster James Malcolm as they battle it out for the No 2 jersey at Scotstoun.
“I've had two years in France and I feel my body is good enough to play, but at 35 I understand another reason that I'm at Glasgow is to nurture the younger hookers and I look forward to doing that,” Flynn said. “It's something I did at the Crusaders and I look forward to being able to help in any way possible.”
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